Liverpool rejected almost a third of its recycling, and that is a lesson for every business

Liverpool City Council had almost a third of its household recycling rejected in the 2024/2025 reporting year, according to Freedom of Information figures released by recycling non-profit Every Can Counts. The rejection rate of 30.35% put Liverpool fourth worst in the UK among councils providing usable data. For business owners in West London, Surrey and the Thames Valley, that number lands with a familiar edge. Contamination, not collection, is the problem that decides whether recycling actually gets recycled.

Across the country, the research found contamination rates ranging from less than 4% in East Lothian to 35% in Bradford. In the North West, Liverpool's 30.35% compared with 25.53% in Knowsley and 26.59% in Preston. Liverpool City Council points out its latest data shows contamination has fallen to 26.49%, helped by a Talking Bins campaign and four new Waste Engagement Officers working directly with residents. The council also reports almost 7,000 requests for free additional blue recycling bins, an increase of 110%.

The research named the usual culprits. Food waste and food-contaminated packaging were the most common contaminant found in recycling bins, followed by disposable nappies, textiles, black bin bags and plastic film. Batteries, vapes and small electrical items were flagged separately as fire hazards inside collection vehicles and automated sorting machinery. None of these items should ever enter a dry recycling bin, at home or at a business.

The business version of the same problem

Commercial waste works differently from household kerbside collection, but the lessons translate directly. A café, a hotel, a film studio or a warehouse is already sorting into dedicated streams rather than a shared mixed blue bin, so the entry point is cleaner. The contamination risks shift to different places. A greasy pizza box dropped in a cardboard bale. A bin bag used to tie off a load of mixed recycling. A late shift cleaner tipping plate scrapings into the dry stream because the food caddy is full. Each of these turns a load that should be recycled into a load that is downgraded or diverted, and the operational cost of that lands on the business.

The fire risk flagged in the research deserves its own attention. Lithium batteries inside vapes and small electricals are a serious hazard inside compactor trucks and sorting lines, and a vape pen can set off a fire that stops a facility for days. The rule for any business is simple. Batteries, vapes and electricals never go in general waste, mixed recycling or food waste. They are collected separately, returned to a retailer or taken to a local recycling centre.

How this plays out at FJL

At FJL Waste Services we run about 190,000 collections a year across West London, Surrey and the Thames Valley, moving around 10,000 tonnes with 100% landfill diversion. That diversion number is only possible because segregation is treated as an operational priority at the point of collection, not an aspiration printed on a sticker. We see the same patterns Liverpool describes. Food contaminating dry recycling. Bin bags used as liners inside the wrong bin. Electricals turning up in the general waste chute. The fix is dull and it works. Clear signage on every bin, in the language the people using it actually read. A food caddy within arm's reach of any kitchen. A battery and vape box kept well away from the general stream.

We have seen a major increase on food recycling this year, which lines up with the finding that food is the most common contaminant when it ends up in the wrong stream. January and February are quieter months on our rounds. June to August is busy and then the lead up to Christmas. If a business is planning to tighten its waste procedures, the quiet period is the window to retrain the team and relabel the bins. Trying to do it in the middle of a peak, with new staff and heavier volume, rarely holds.