How your Hospitality business can comply with the new workplace recycling legislation

​Having looked at the business case for recycling, it’s time to delve into the details of what the new legislation means for your business. ​ 

The recyclable materials the legislation will require you to separate out from general waste includes: 

• food waste including leftovers and waste generated by preparing food (of any volume, including if the workplace does not serve food or have a canteen),

• glass - such as drinks bottles and rinsed empty food jars   

• metal - such as drinks cans and rinsed empty food tins, empty aerosols, aluminium foil, aluminium food trays and tubes   

• plastic - such as rinsed empty food containers and bottles   

• paper and cardboard - such as old newspapers, envelopes, delivery boxes and packaging   

You will need to separate paper and card from other dry recyclables (plastic, metal and glass), unless your waste collector collects them together. Waste collectors may also choose to collect other dry recyclable materials separately, like glass. You should discuss how your dry recyclable waste will be collected with your chosen waste collector.    

Cartons for food, drink and other liquids, including aseptic and chilled cartons, should be collected alongside plastics.    

​​​It will be important to make sure you separate out the right materials and avoid contamination by any non-recyclable materials.  

Good to know 

The legislation requires that all these materials are separated for recycling. The new regulations will apply to all businesses, including hotels, restaurants, cafés, takeaways, catering businesses, shopping centre food courts, canteens, public houses, shops that serve food, supermarkets, schools/colleges with canteens, prisons, nursing homes and hospitals. The Government isn’t proposing a minimum food waste weight before the new legislation applies, so it’s likely that this guidance will be relevant to your workplace. 

What is the new legislation?

Under Section 57 – Separation of Waste, the Environment Act 2021 makes provision for amending the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (Section 45AZA and Section 45AZB) governing the separate collection, in England, of household waste from relevant non-domestic premises.

Workplaces and relevant non-domestic premises will need to separate dry recycling (except plastic film) and food waste for recycling by 31 March 2025. If you’re a smaller workplace, with fewer than ten full-time equivalent employees, you’ve got until 31 March 2027, but it’s a good idea to take the opportunity to comply early – one less thing to worry about!

As waste is a devolved matter, each of the four UK nations has slightly different requirements for recycling. If you’re responsible for managing waste in your workplace, visit our sister site in Wales or in Northern Ireland. There’s also similar guidance available for Scotland.