Simpler Recycling: what it means if you have fewer than 10 staff
Most small businesses haven't heard of it. The deadline is 31 March 2027 — and getting ready early usually costs less than the general waste bin you'll be able to drop.
The short version. If your business has 10 or more full-time-equivalent employees, you should already be separating food waste — that came in on 31 March 2025. If you have fewer than 10, you have until 31 March 2027. This applies to workplaces in England.
What you actually have to do
Simpler Recycling replaced a patchwork of different council rules with one national standard. Every workplace in England has to present its waste in three streams:
1. Dry recyclables
Plastic, metal, glass, paper and card. Paper and card normally have to be separate from the rest, unless your collector has completed a written co-collection assessment.
2. Food waste
Always separate. No exemptions. This is the stream we handle.
3. Residual waste
Everything genuinely left over. Once the first two streams come out, this bin usually gets a lot emptier.
Does it apply to me?
Count your full-time equivalent employees, not your headcount:
- Part-time staff count as a fraction, pro-rated on hours. Two people on 20 hours a week each ≈ 1 FTE.
- Volunteers, contractors and self-employed workers don't count.
- The threshold is measured across your whole business, not site by site. Three cafés with four staff each is 12 FTE — which means the 2025 deadline already applied to you.
The rules cover workplaces, so that's restaurants, cafés, takeaways, pubs, hotels, offices, shops, schools, nurseries, care homes, village halls and charities alike.
What happens if I ignore it
Enforcement sits with the Environment Agency, which can issue compliance notices and, for persistent breaches, pursue prosecution. In practice, though, the enforcement letter is rarely what catches a small business out. It's more often:
- A landlord or managing agent asking for evidence of compliant waste arrangements at lease renewal.
- A tender or supplier questionnaire with a waste and environmental section you can't complete.
- A franchisor or head office audit asking for two years of Waste Transfer Notes.
- An EHO visit where separated food waste storage is part of the picture.
The part nobody mentions: it usually saves money
Food waste is the heaviest, wettest, bulkiest thing in a general waste bin. Once it's separated, most small businesses can drop to a smaller general bin or a less frequent collection — and that reduction is often worth more than the food waste service costs.
We'll do that maths with you before you commit, and if it doesn't work in your favour we'll tell you.
Getting ready — four things, this month
Check your FTE
Under 10 across the whole business? You're on the 2027 date. 10 or more? You're already in scope.
Check your contract
Find your notice period now. Most commercial waste contracts need 30–90 days and auto-renew if you miss it.
Get a food waste bin
Right size, right frequency. £42.25/month for a weekly collection, bin included.
Shrink the general bin
This is where the saving is. Do it at the same renewal, not a year later.
Source: GOV.UK — Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England. This page is a plain-English summary, not legal advice — check the guidance or speak to your local authority if you're unsure how it applies to you.
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