Last updated: October 2026
Simpler Recycling is the government’s new set of recycling rules for England, and it changes how every business has to deal with its rubbish. Larger workplaces have been covered since March 2025, and the smallest firms must follow suit by 31 March 2027. This guide answers the questions we hear most from businesses across Essex, in plain English.
What is Simpler Recycling?
Simpler Recycling is legislation that standardises recycling across England. Before it, there was no legal requirement for businesses to separate their recycling or food waste from general waste. Now every workplace must present its waste in separate streams, so more of it can be recycled rather than sent to landfill or incineration.
The same rules also apply to households: councils in England had to bring their home collections into line by 31 March 2026.
Who does Simpler Recycling apply to?
It applies to every business and non-domestic premises in England that produces waste similar to household waste. That covers offices, shops, cafés, pubs, salons, workshops and warehouses, as well as schools, hospitals, care homes and places of worship.
When does Simpler Recycling start?
| Who | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Workplaces with 10 or more full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, plus schools, hospitals and care homes | 31 March 2025 (already in force) |
| Micro-firms with fewer than 10 FTE staff | 31 March 2027 |
| All workplaces: plastic film and carrier bag recycling | 31 March 2027 |
Are you really a micro-firm?
The 10-employee test counts your whole organisation, not each site. A business with three shops and four staff at each has 12 employees, so it has been covered since March 2025. Part-time staff are added together as full-time equivalents.
What does Simpler Recycling require businesses to separate?
You need to keep three waste streams apart:
- Dry mixed recycling: plastic, metal, glass, paper and card. Paper and card may need their own bin unless your collector has assessed that mixing them is acceptable.
- Food waste: this includes staff kitchens, so it applies even if you don’t sell food. Tea bags and leftover lunches count.
- Residual (general) waste: whatever cannot be recycled.
Once waste has been separated for recycling, it cannot then be sent to landfill or incineration.
Simpler Recycling and food waste
Food waste is the change that catches most small businesses out. Any workplace that produces food waste of any volume, including from a staff kettle area, needs it collected separately. Shared collections are allowed, so neighbouring units on a parade or business park can share a food waste bin to keep costs down.
What bins do you need for Simpler Recycling?
A typical setup is three containers: one for dry mixed recycling, one for general waste and a food waste caddy or bin. Most small offices and cafés manage with 240L bins; restaurants, hotels and blocks of flats usually need 660L or 1100L for the larger streams.
A common surprise is that your general waste bin can often drop a size once recycling and food are taken out of it, which helps offset the cost of the extra collections. Our commercial bin collections can be set up daily, weekly or fortnightly to match how much each stream produces.
What happens if you don’t comply?
The Environment Agency can issue compliance notices to workplaces that fail to separate their waste. Your existing duty of care also still applies: you must use a registered waste carrier and keep waste transfer notes for every collection.
Waste tracking is going digital too
Since 1 October 2026, permitted waste sites in England must log every load they receive on the government’s Digital Waste Tracking service, and waste carriers are due to join in October 2027. For businesses, the practical point is simple: using a licensed operator with its own permitted site, such as Clearaway’s Basildon waste transfer station, means your waste is recorded properly from collection to final destination.
How to get ready for Simpler Recycling
- Count your staff as full-time equivalents across all sites to confirm your deadline.
- Audit your waste for a week: how much is recyclable, how much is food and how much is general.
- Talk to your waste collector about separate collections for each stream.
- Label your bins clearly and brief your staff, especially on what goes in food waste.
- Keep your paperwork (waste transfer notes) in case you are asked to show compliance.
Simpler Recycling FAQs
When does Simpler Recycling start for small businesses? Firms with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent staff must comply by 31 March 2027. Everyone else has been covered since 31 March 2025.
Is Simpler Recycling the same as the household changes? It is the same legislation. Councils had to update household collections by 31 March 2026, while businesses arrange their own collections through a waste collector.
Does Simpler Recycling apply if we don’t serve food? Yes. Food waste from staff kitchens and break areas must still be collected separately.
Can businesses share Simpler Recycling bins? Yes. Neighbouring businesses, or tenants in a managed building, can share collections. Where a landlord provides the service, they are responsible for making it compliant.
Do we have to pay for extra collections? Businesses continue to pay for their own waste services. Splitting waste properly often reduces the size of your general waste bin, which can help balance the cost.
Need help getting compliant?
Clearaway has been handling commercial waste across Essex for over 20 years, from our own Environment Agency permitted site in Basildon. Tell us your staff numbers and the type of waste you produce, and we will recommend a collection setup that meets the Simpler Recycling rules. Call 01268 520166 or send us an enquiry.
