Food waste management is undergoing significant changes, with new legislation having taken effect on 31 March 2025. Businesses and workplaces, particularly educational institutions, will need to adjust their waste segregation practices to comply with the new regulations. To help you understand what this means, we worked with Amanda Hepburn, Account Director at GPT Waste on a webinar and a blog to provide a comprehensive breakdown of the changes, their implications, and how organisations can prepare.
Why Is This Legislation Important?
Currently, most businesses mix their food waste with general waste, leading to incineration. However, food waste can be better managed through anaerobic digestion, a process that converts organic waste into biogas and biofertilizer. This shift aims to reduce landfill waste, improve recycling efficiency, and contribute to sustainable energy production.
Who Does the Legislation Apply To?
The legislation applies to workplaces and businesses that generate waste similar in composition to household waste. This includes schools, colleges, and universities. Organisations with ten or more employees must comply from 31 March 2025. Smaller businesses and households will follow in 2027.
Key Changes in Waste Segregation
Under the new rules, organisations must segregate waste into specific categories:
- General Waste – Non-recyclable materials, contaminated packaging, disposable cutlery, and absorbent hygiene products.
- Recycling Waste – Paper, card, plastic bottles, rinsed food and drink containers, newspapers, magazines, and spent aerosols.
- Food Waste – Tea bags, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peels, leftover food, bones, and other inedible food waste.
- Glass Waste – Glass bottles and jars, which should be collected separately to improve recycling efficiency.
Steps to Compliance
Work with Your Waste Provider: Contact your waste collection service to understand their specific requirements. For example, they may want you to segregate card or paper. It is important that you check.
Use the Right Bins: This is probably the key to managing your waste successfully and we cover this in more detail in this blog. You will need to have different bins for different waste streams. They will have to be clearly labelled and appropriately placed to encourage correct usage.
Educate Staff and Students: Provide clear instructions and signage to minimise contamination. It is important that everybody who is using bins knows how to use them and which bin is for which waste stream.
Monitor and Adapt: Regularly review waste segregation practices to ensure compliance and efficiency.
The Importance of Proper Bin Usage
Bins serve as the primary tool for waste collection, segregation, and disposal. Without proper bin placement and usage, waste contamination becomes a significant issue, making recycling efforts ineffective. The new legislation means you will need different bins for various waste types.
General Waste Bins
General waste bins are used for non-recyclable waste that cannot be processed through recycling or composting methods. While coffee cups and some take away dishes can be made of a recyclable product only 1% of the two and half billion coffee cups we use a year, for example, are actually recycled. Therefore, coffee cups, take away dishes, polystyrene, contaminated packaging that cannot be washed, single use cutlery which includes plastic and wooden knives, paper towels and absorbent hygiene products should all go into your general waste stream. That means in all of your toilets and food areas you should have general waste bags.
Recycling Bins
Recycling bins play a pivotal role in reducing landfill waste. The dry mixed recycling is the perfect way capture as much recycling as you can at your sites. You have to use clear plastic bags. These bins should be used for clean and dry recyclable materials, including:
- Paper and cardboard – but not paper towels as these tend to be wet and can contaminate the contents
- Plastic bottles
- Rinsed food and drink cans
- Newspapers and magazines
- Rinsed cartons and spent aerosols
To ensure the effectiveness of recycling, it is crucial that all items are cleaned before disposal. Contaminated recyclables can lead to entire batches of recycling being rejected.
Food Waste Bins
A significant component of the new legislation is the mandatory segregation of food waste. The bins that you will be provided with on your sites will be a 240 litre wheelie bin which is the same size as the bin you would have at home for your waste. Food waste should be disposed of in designated food waste bins, which should only contain:
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
- Fruit and vegetable peelings
- Leftover food scraps
- Inedible food waste, such as bones and carcasses
Food waste collected separately can be processed through anaerobic digestion, producing biogas for energy and biofertilizer for agriculture, thereby reducing landfill dependency.
Glass Waste Bins
Glass waste should be stored separately in dedicated glass bins. This ensures that all glass items, regardless of colour, are efficiently recycled. Again, you will be given a 240 litre bin the same as a household size bin. Many waste providers no longer accept glass mixed with general waste, making these bins an essential component of waste management.
Best Practices for Bin Management
To maximise efficiency and compliance with waste regulations, you should follow these best practices:
Clear Signage and Labelling
Each bin should be clearly labelled to indicate its designated waste stream. Visual aids, including colour coding and instructional graphics, help users correctly dispose of waste, minimising contamination.
Strategic Placement of Bins
Bins should be strategically placed in high-traffic areas where waste is commonly generated. Food waste bins should be located in kitchens and dining areas, while recycling bins should be available in offices and classrooms. If you have too many bins, they will half full and it will take too much time to empty and clean them – so think carefully about how many you have and where you put them.
Training and Awareness
Employees, students, and staff should be educated on proper waste segregation practices. Regular training sessions can reinforce the importance of waste management and compliance with regulations.
Regular Bin Maintenance
Bins should be emptied regularly to prevent overflow and odours. Additionally, cleaning and sanitising bins help maintain hygiene and extend their usability.
The Processing of Waste
Once waste is collected from bins, it undergoes various processing methods depending on its type. Understanding these processes helps illustrate why proper waste segregation is essential.
General Waste Processing
General waste that is not recyclable or compostable is typically taken to a waste transfer station, where it is assessed and bulked before being transported to an incineration facility. In the UK, incinerators generate heat energy that is converted into electricity and fed back into the grid.
Recycling Processing
Recycling waste is transported to a clean transfer station where it is sorted and segregated into different material streams, such as plastic, paper, aluminium, and glass. Each material is then compressed into bales and sent to manufacturers that repurpose them into new products. For example, aluminium cans can be recycled indefinitely and turned into new cans, significantly reducing resource extraction and energy use.
Food Waste Processing
Food waste undergoes anaerobic digestion, a process in which organic waste is broken down by microorganisms in a controlled environment. This decomposition produces biogas, which can be used as an energy source, and biofertilizer, which is used in agriculture. Unlike landfill disposal, anaerobic digestion reduces greenhouse gas emissions and creates valuable byproducts.
Glass Waste Processing
Glass waste is one of the most efficiently recycled materials. Once collected, it is cleaned, sorted by colour, and crushed into small pieces called cullet. These fragments are then melted down.
Take Action Now!
The deadline to get these new arrangements in place was 31 March 2025 so if you haven’t already you need to act NOW! Schools can ensure smooth compliance with the new regulations while contributing to a more sustainable future. Need more guidance? Reach out to waste management experts for tailored advice!
Remember if you would prefer to watch the webinar, you can access the recording here, or contact GPT Waste for further information.
Q&A Section
Q1: Will waste providers accept clear plastic bags in dry mixed recycling?
A: Yes, most providers do, but it is best to check with your specific provider. Some may require waste to be placed loosely in bins.
Q2: Can compostable bags be used for food waste?
A: While compostable bags can be used, they are removed before food waste is processed. Regular clear plastic bags are equally effective.
Q3: Should food waste be placed directly into bins?
A: It is advisable to bag food waste before placing it in bins to maintain cleanliness and reduce odours.
Q4: What should I do if my waste provider is unresponsive?
A: If your provider is not responsive, reach out to alternative waste management services for guidance and compliance support.
Q5: Who is actually ‘policing’ this new legislation to ensure organisations are compliant?
A: The Environmental Agency is responsible for ‘policing’ the policy.
Q6: If you are non-compliant and this is discovered what are the risks and/or penalties?
A: The risks/penalties have not yet been decided. They will be on a case-by-case basis and will depend on the severity of the non-conformity.
