Future of waste: what business should expect

Skips and Bins founder Scott Hawthorne investigates the upcoming laws and regulations that UK businesses need to plan for, from 2025 onwards 

In the UK all four nations have its own devolved parliament with authority over its waste policy and regulation, also known as ‘Devolved Waste Regulations’. This operates alongside a UK wide legislation (I.E. EPA 1990 and environment act 2021) to ensure a degree of standardisation across the UK, whilst giving each nation the possibility of tailoring their own waste regulations.

In recent years, the government have reported recycling rates in England as having increased to 42-44% - a 33% rise compared to reports in 2000 and 2001. With that, the government are looking to simplify recycling within households and businesses, no longer requiring them to check with their councils on what they can and can’t recycle.

The end goal is to instead encourage members of the public to recycle the same materials, in an act to maximise the use of recycling streams, and to drive up recycling rates and minimise waste.

New regulations in England inspired by Wales

From 31st March 2025, businesses across England will be required to separate their waste streams into either dry recyclables or commercial food waste. 

A new commercial waste regulation, which came into effect for Wales on 6th April 2024, will also come into effect in England from the March 31st, 2025. It has already set an ambition for Wales to become zero waste and to be able to effectively recycle, compost and re-use 100% of waste by 2050. 

Since Wales outlined their new regulation their rate of recycling has stabilised around the 65% mark, which has been the catalyst for England aspiring for similar rates.

Dry recycle waste streams

As per the new regulation, businesses across England are expected to combine and organise a collection for their dry recyclable waste stream. This can consist of being a mix of glass bottles, metals such as steal and aluminium (tin, cans, trays, tubes, aerosols and lids), plastic (bottle, pots, tubs), paper and card.

Commercial food waste

Under the new legislation, all businesses across England must arrange for a separate collection of food waste, and to present their waste in accordance with these arrangements. However, they will not be required to organise weekly collections. 

The government plans for the commercial food waste to be treated by anaerobic digestion (AD), as it has proven to be the best environmental outcome for the treatment of unavoidable food waste to generate biofuel and digestate. This digestate can be spread across the land, ensuring nutrients are recycled, and establish more circular economy.

Flexibility for micro-businesses

Smaller businesses consisting of 10 or fewer people will be given more flexibility to separate their dry recycle waste and commercial food waste, as well as arranging collection by 31 March, 2027.

This additional time will allow the businesses to prepare by accessing business support tools which are currently being developed by WRAP. These tools have been designed to ensure that businesses find the transition to the new requirements is done in the most cost-efficient way.

Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) 

Consumers across the UK purchase an estimated 31 billion single-use drinks containers each year – 12 billion plastic drinks bottles, 14 billion drinks cans, and 5 billion glass bottles. Yet, current collection rates are between 70 to 75%, and a significant amount of these containers end up littered or in landfill. 

The UK government, DAERA in Northern Ireland, the Scottish Government, and the Welsh Government share an ambition to increase recycling rates of single-use drinks containers to at least 90%. The aim is to significantly cut littering, and to expand opportunities to collect and reprocess high quality materials. 

With this ambition, the government are planning to rule out Deposit Return Schemes (DRS). The scheme is set to launch in October 2027, and it is going to be used as a financial incentive to encourage UK consumers to return drinks containers. The hope is that this will help boost recycling levels to over 90% in the year following the start of the scheme’s operation. 

The government expects businesses to play a vital part in recognising opportunities to invest and innovate into a vibrant circular economy, and to foster more prosperity across the UK. 

The responsibility for waste and recycling is a devolved competence in the UK and there will be four legally distinct DRS across UK; one in Scotland, one in Northern Ireland, one in England and one in Wales, which will be interoperable and will be simple for businesses and consumers, whilst allowing the UK to achieve the economic and environment goals of the scheme. 

Mandatory recyclability labelling

Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (Packaging EPR) is due to commence in October 2025, with annual disposal costs payable by producers from the financial year 2025 – 2026. 

It is set to change packaging waste management by placing greater responsibility on the producers. From April 2027, all packaging, excluding plastic films and flexible packaging, will need to carry out a clear label indicating whether it can be recycled or not. They will also be required to display the Recycle Now logo on the packaging.

Updated processes

The more proactive businesses are to begin updating their commercial waste disposal processes to reflect these changes, the easier they will find the transition to the new  regulations when they are rolled out in March 2025. 

Scott Hawthorne is the founder of Skips and Bins

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and somboon kaeoboonsong