"Separation of waste" is a phrase that is on many people's minds at the moment, especially in the UK. Recent changes to policy and legislation in Wales and England have seen the introduction of stricter controls on the separation of recyclable waste for collection, but their implementation is slightly different.
In addition, as rules begin to diversify across the UK, it has left many wondering what the separation of waste rules are in each of the four UK countries and whether they're going to change soon.
So, we've put together this guide which provides an overview of the current rules in each UK country (we've covered Ireland too) and also indicates what, if anything, might be changing in:
The current situation
Under Part 2 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, from 31 March 2025, all non-domestic and all industrial/commercial/business premises in England must separate core recycling waste of a household nature into separate waste streams; those waste streams must then be collected separately by a waste collector or contractor (this is subject to exemptions). The same provision applies to households from 31 March 2026 and micro-firms (those with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees on 31 March 2025) from 31 March 2027.
The waste streams to be separated are:
The Separation of Waste (England) Regulations SI 2024/666 then describes the types of waste that fall into each of the above categories in an attempt to make recycling simpler across England.
However, this requirement is subject to various exemptions:
Our news story on the separate collection of waste in England contains more details regarding the requirements in England.
On the horizon
The separation of waste requirements in England are new at the time of writing, so no changes are expected. Additionally, the Government and the Environment Agency may publish guidance on this requirement in the future.
The current situation
Requirements for the separation and collection of certain types of waste streams in Wales came into force on 6 April 2024. The Waste Separation Requirements (Wales) Regulations SI 2023/1290 set out waste separation requirements for all commercial premises across Wales. These requirements do not apply to any domestic properties or caravans.
They state that the following recycling waste streams must be presented separately for collection, and must be collected separately, from other waste streams:
A description of the types of waste that fall into each of the above categories is contained in Schedule 1 of those Regulations.
The accompanying code of practice on these requirements stipulates that separate containers must be used for each of those waste streams. The containers can be bins, bags, boxes, skips or other types, but they should be appropriate and take into account the nature of the waste and the requirements of your waste collector.
There are exemptions to the separation of waste requirements:
On the horizon
The separation of waste requirements in Wales are relatively new at the time of writing, so no changes are expected currently.
The current situation
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires anyone who produces controlled waste in Scotland to take steps to ensure the separate collection of dry recyclable waste. This has been in place since 1 January 2014, and what they mean by this is that waste is presented for collection and collected in a way that means:
However, the Scottish Duty of Care Code of Practice acknowledges that separate collection systems may not always be practicable and that co-mingled collections - where the recycling waste is in the same container and later sorted at a Materials Recycling Facility – can also achieve high quality recycling aims. So, to allow co-mingling to take place, the Environmental Protection Act 1990 states that the separate collections requirements don’t apply if dry recyclable waste is managed in a way to ensure that the:
In essence, if systems are in place to ensure high-quality recycling via sorting at a materials recycling facility, recycling waste can be collected and mixed in the same container.
A duty is also placed on waste producers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to:
When it comes to food waste, the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires any business in Scotland that processes, distributes, prepares or sells food to make sure that food waste is collected separately if they produce more than 5kg of such waste, unless the business is a rural food business premises.
The Scottish Duty of Care Code of Practice contains more information on this for waste producers.
On the horizon
At the moment, it does not seem that Scotland is planning on changing their existing waste separation requirements. However, the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 does include an amendment which requires Ministers to make a Code of Practice which can, if they choose to, specify details on waste receptacles and the types of household waste that can be recycled or composted. So it is possible that they could introduce something in the future but only time will tell.
The current situation
As the law stands, the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order SI 1997/2778, requires any food business that processes, distributes, prepares or sells food to have food waste collected separately if they produce over 5kg of the waste per week. That has been the case since 1 April 2016. Premises where food is brought in from elsewhere, for example by an employee bringing their lunch to work, do not qualify as food businesses.
In addition, under the same Order, food waste has to be collected separately from every household, which has been the case since 1 April 2017. Although the way that Councils collect waste has evolved over time, resulting in a variety of collection practices across Northern Ireland for such waste, and some food waste is still collected co-mingled in some areas.
Furthermore, the Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) SR 2011/127 which place a responsibility on district councils and registered waste carriers to separately collect paper, metal, plastic or glass where it is necessary to ensure the waste undergoes preparation for re-use, recycling or other recovery operations. There are several exemptions to this at the moment though, such as where separate collection would entail disproportionate economic cost and where collecting each recyclable waste stream mixed together would result in an output that is of comparable quality had the streams been collected separately. This means that recycling waste can be collected mixed so long as it can be sorted later and still results in quality materials.
On the horizon
Back in 2020 the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) published a discussion document called “Future Recycling and Separate Collection of Waste of a Household Nature’. That document explored potential options to improve resource management in Northern Ireland which led to the development of several short, medium and long-term options. One of the short-term options was to explore the possibility of the separate collection of certain wastes.
As a result, Northern Ireland launched a consultation that ran between March and June 2024 to explore the separate collection of waste. It proposed that recyclable materials in the core waste streams of:
should be separately collected from households and non-households, with waste in the core waste streams being collected from non-households where it is similar in nature and composition to household waste. The proposal is to keep those waste streams separate from residual waste - which means those core recyclables could be collected mixed as long as they are completely separate from residual waste. The consultation explored whether small businesses should be exempt from the requirement.
In addition, it is proposed all non-household municipal sector premises that generate food waste will have to segregate that waste for collection too.
At the time of writing, no changes in policy or legislation have been announced following the consultation. We will update this document if there are any further announcements.
The current situation
Under the Waste Management (Food Waste) Regulations SI 508/2009, those who have premises where food is prepared and/or consumed, or those who supply food, must make sure that food waste is segregated and kept separate from non-biodegradable materials, other waste and contaminants. It must then be either:
This also means that it cannot be mixed with residual waste nor can food waste be discharged into water, drains or sewers.
In addition, from 1 July 2023, it became mandatory for waste collectors to provide commercial premises with receptacles for residual waste, dry mixed recycling and bio-waste. As such, recycling materials can be presented and collected mixed.
On the horizon
At the time of writing, there are no known proposed changes to waste collections in Ireland.
