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Recycling Rules for businesses in Wales are changing from 6 April 2024.

WRC is looking to organise a session in January 2024 for members, if you'd like to know more and join us, please connect with Sara Jones.

The three Statutory Instruments (SIs) which make up the Workplace Recycling reforms were scheduled for plenary debate on 28 November.

The Welsh Parliament has now passed two of secondary legislation (Regulations) which mandate the separate presentation, collection and handling of specified recycling streams from non-domestic entities, and prohibit incineration or landfilling of specified materials.

These new rules will come into force on 6 April 2024.

What are the waste separation requirements for businesses about?

The above-mentioned Regulation mandates the following:

  • requirement for non-domestic premises (including businesses, charities and public sector bodies) to present specified recyclable materials for collection separately;
  • requires those that collect the specified recyclable materials from non-domestic premises to collect them separately from other recyclable materials and residual waste;
  • and requires those separately collected recyclable materials to be kept separate and not mixed. 

To find out about how you can get your workplace ready for the new rules, Welsh Government has published some guidance available at the following link: https://www.gov.wales/changes-workplace-recycling-guidance-workplaces. 

We also recommend retailers to get acquainted with the Separate Collection of Waste Materials for Recycling: a Code of Practice for Wales (draft). This sets out out practical guidance on how to comply with the separation requirements, a final version will be published shortly. 

More guidance and toolkits to get ready are available over here: https://brc.org.uk/news/csr/wales-separated-waste-collections-for-business-from-april-2024/

The Prohibition on the Incineration, or the Deposit in Landfill, of Specified Waste

The new Regulation extends existing bans to include additional specified separately collected recyclable materials from non-domestic and domestic premises to be banned from incineration and landfill in Wales. It also bans all wood waste from landfill.

The Prohibition on Disposal of Food Waste to Sewer

The above-mentioned Order contains provisions that complement the ban on the disposal of food waste to sewer from non-domestic premises. The intention is to make sure that workplaces do not install technologies to facilitate the disposal of food waste to sewer as a way to circumvent the new requirement to separate out food waste for recycling. It effectively prohibits workplaces currently disposing of their food waste in this way from doing so, as disposing of food waste to sewer can overload the sewerage system and cause blockages. 

Enforcement

All three of the Regulations put in place civil sanctions. Those who fail to comply with the regulations are at risk of facing several penalties. A fine of £500 will be levied for non-compliance with section 45AA(2) of the 1990 Environmental Protection Act, and a £300 penalty will be imposed for breaching section 45AA(4). Variable penalties will be in place where the infringement is more nuanced – to be calculated on the severity of the offence including any financial benefits that might have been gained from the non-compliance.