Business Waste

All businesses have a legal ‘Duty of Care’ to dispose of their waste responsibly. Your business should:

• Put waste in a container.
• Transfer waste only to an authorised (licensed) person.
• Complete a Waste Transfer Note when your waste is removed.
• Prevent or clear-up street litter caused by your business.
• If you don’t comply with the legislation you could be held responsible and have to pay a fine. Call the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506 or email to find out more, or contact the commercial waste team at your local council.
• If you are a registered waste carrier you can now embed a widget from the Environment Agency on your website which displays your licence details, to find out more click here.
• From 1st October 2020 single use plastic straws, cottons buds and stirrers are banned in England. Guidance on how this applies to businesses can be found here.

For more information on how to fulfill your duty of care visit Right Waste Right Place.

• Sign up to the Swap2Save campaign for tips on how to reduce single use products within your business
• Talk to your suppliers about your aim as a business to avoid creating waste in the first place. For example, ask them to work with you to reduce packaging materials that may generate waste for your business
• Explore take back schemes (returnable/refillable systems) or how essential components of transit packaging can be reused. For example reuse incoming packaging and boxes for outgoing deliveries.
• Use rechargeable batteries and refillable printer cartridges and consumable items that will last longer e.g. LED lighting.
• Always print double-sided and encourage paperless business systems (e-working).
• If your business involves food, think about organising a separate food waste collection or look into composting food waste.
• Provide ‘doggie bags’ for customers to take their uneaten food home
• Talk to your waste contractor or your local council about recycling collections in your area.
• Organise separate bins inside and outside of your business to sort and keep recyclables ‘Clean, Dry & Loose’ – ready for onwards collection.
• Ask before giving customers bags, disposable cutlery, or paper serviettes.
• Stock loose items where possible and avoid over-packaged products.
• Ensure staff have reusable mugs and glasses, not disposable cups.
• Visit the  Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) website, which provides lots of practical advice to help businesses become more resource efficient.

Business waste is accepted at Thetford, King’s Lynn, Dereham, Ketteringham, Mayton Wood, Hempton and Caister recycling centres, for a charge.  This service is designed to be cost effective for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and is available Monday to Friday only. More information can be found in our Trade Waste leaflet.

Waste can be accepted  from any premises used wholly or mainly for trade or business, or for sport, recreation, education or entertainment.  This also includes waste from gardening and building work carried out on a domestic property, if the person carrying out the work is not the homeowner.

You will need to have a waste carriers licence to use this service (see below).]

Items accepted as business waste:

• Non-recyclable waste, like carpets, sofas, rigid plastic, mattresses and black bagged waste
• Garden waste (i.e. hedge cuttings, grass cuttings and leaves)
• Flat or sheet glass (i.e. from windows)
• Rubble (i.e. bricks and concrete)
• Plasterboard
• Timber (i.e. clean structural wood or wooden furniture)
• Scrap metal
• Paper and cardboard
• Textiles
• Glass bottles (empty)

Items NOT accepted under the business waste service:

• Electrical equipment (i.e. fridges, televisions, printers etc.)
• Tyres (either cars or agricultural)
• Cooking oil
• Engine oil
• Car batteries
• Household batteries
• Gas bottles
• Light bulbs or fluorescent tubes
• Hazardous waste such as paint or household chemicals
• Industrial waste
• Agricultural waste
• Any other items not normally accepted at recycling centres, like hazardous waste

Some local councils and private business will offer a business waste collection service, if you choose to consider  these as a disposal or recycling outlet for your waste you may wish to consider the points below for discussion.

• If your business involves food, could a separate food waste collection be possible or look into composting food waste.
• Talk to your waste contractor or your local council about separate waste and recycling collections in your area.
• Organise separate bins inside and outside of your business to sort and keep recyclables ‘Clean, Dry & Loose’ – ready for onwards collection.
• If you are a SME, consider using the Business Waste at Recycling Centres service.