Simpler Recycling · Micro-firms
Simpler Recycling for small businesses: the 31 March 2027 deadline
From 31 March 2027, workplaces in England with fewer than 10 full time equivalent employees must keep dry recyclables and food waste out of the general waste bin. Staff are counted across the whole business, not per site. The micro-firm exemption ends on that date.
FJL Waste Services can set up all of it on one account: general waste, dry mixed recycling, paper and card, and food waste. Start with a free waste review.
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Key date
141
days until 31 March 2027
The day the micro-firm exemption ends. Workplaces in England with fewer than 10 full time equivalent employees must separate dry recyclables, food waste and general waste from then on.
- 10 or more FTE
- In force since 31 March 2025
- Fewer than 10 FTE
- From 31 March 2027
What changes
Three streams, kept separate.
From 31 March 2027 a micro-firm has to separate its waste in the same way as a larger business. The GOV.UK guidance says you must always separate these three streams.
- 1
Dry recyclables
Plastic, metal and glass, which can share one bin. Paper and card go in a bin of their own by default.
- 2
Food waste
Coffee grounds, tea bags, fruit peel and leftovers. It applies even if you have no kitchen and do not serve food.
- 3
General waste
What is left once the recycling and food waste are out. Most small businesses already have this bin.
Paper and card can share a bin with plastic, metal and glass only where your collector completes a written co-collection assessment. Garden waste, if you produce it, must be recycled or composted where that gives the best environmental outcome. The rules cover England only.
Who is in scope
Any workplace with fewer than 10 full time equivalent staff.
Count every employee across the whole organisation. Part-time staff count as a fraction of their hours. Volunteers, contractors and self-employed workers are left out. If the total is under 10, 31 March 2027 is your date.
Cafés and takeaways
Food waste is the big one: grounds, peelings and plate waste. Milk cartons, cans and bottles go in dry mixed recycling, and delivery boxes in paper and card.
Hair and beauty salons
Product bottles and tubes, cardboard from stock deliveries and the staff room's tea bags and lunch waste. Food waste still counts, even in small amounts.
Small offices
Paper and card is usually the largest stream. Kitchen waste needs a food waste arrangement, and drinks cans and bottles go in dry mixed recycling.
Shops
Cardboard packaging from deliveries, plastic and cans from stock, and food waste from the staff area or any food you sell.
Trades firms
The office and yard count as a workplace, so paper, drinks cans and lunch waste need separating. Building waste from jobs is a separate matter, usually a skip.
Small clinics and practices
Dental, physio, vet and GP practices separate their everyday waste like any office. Clinical and offensive waste stay under their own rules, unchanged.
Pubs and bars
Glass, cans and food waste are the main streams. Most pubs with a kitchen will want a weekly food waste collection.
Several small sites?
Three branches with four staff each is 12 employees, so the business is not a micro-firm and should already be separating at every site.
Sector detail for offices, retail, restaurants and hospitality, healthcare and construction and trades.
What you need to do
Five steps before 31 March 2027.
- 1
Count your full time equivalent staff
Add up every employee across the whole business, not per site. Part-time staff count as a fraction based on their hours. Volunteers, contractors and self-employed workers do not count. Under 10 means the 31 March 2027 date applies to you. 10 or more and you should already be separating.
- 2
Look at what you throw away
Check what goes in your general waste bin today. In most small businesses it is full of cardboard, paper, cans, bottles and food that will need their own bins.
- 3
Arrange the collections
Set up dry recyclables, food waste and general waste collections with a registered waste carrier. Paper and card are collected separately unless your collector completes a written co-collection assessment. On-site composting is a permitted alternative to a food waste collection.
- 4
Keep the paperwork
Your duty of care has not changed. Keep waste transfer documentation for every stream and check your collector is on the Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers.
- 5
Show your staff
Label the bins and tell everyone what goes where. Separation applies at every location you run, so each site needs its own set up.
Key dates
Where the deadline sits.
31 Mar 2025
Workplaces with 10 or more full time equivalent employees must separate their waste.
Today
141 days to go. Time to check your bins, book the collections and get the paperwork in place without a last minute rush.
31 Mar 2027
The micro-firm exemption ends. Workplaces with fewer than 10 full time equivalent employees must separate dry recyclables, food waste and general waste.
Getting it wrong
What happens if you do not comply.
The Environment Agency regulates Simpler Recycling. It usually starts with advice, and where a business is not separating its waste it can issue a compliance notice. It is an offence to fail to comply with a compliance notice, and further action follows the Environment Agency's enforcement and sanctions policy.
Simpler Recycling also sits on top of your existing waste duty of care. Breaches of the duty of care can go to court, and courts can impose unlimited fines.
The practical cost for most small businesses is simpler than that: a compliance notice lands, and you have to set up new collections in a hurry. Sorting it before 31 March 2027 avoids both.
How FJL sets it up
Every stream, one collector, one set of paperwork.
General waste
The bin you have now, often a smaller one once the recycling and food waste come out of it.
Dry mixed recycling
Plastic, metal and glass together, with paper and card in its own bin, or co-collected where a written assessment allows it.
Food waste
Lidded caddies or wheelie bins sized to what you produce, collected weekly or more often if you need it.
One account
Every stream on the same rounds and one invoice, with waste transfer documentation set up on your account for each stream.
Most new customers start within a week. If you need a clear-out before the new bins arrive, our skips go out next morning on most postcodes when you call before noon. Already an FJL customer? New streams are added to your existing account.
63%
of the food waste collections FJL runs today started on or after 31 March 2025.
211
food waste services running with FJL now.
27 to 91
new food waste services: 27 started in 2024, 91 in 2025.
From FJL's scheduled service records, October 2026, published in the Commercial Waste Report 2026.
Free waste review
Find out what you need before 31 March 2027.
Tell us what bins you have and what goes in them. We tell you which streams you need, suggest sizes and collection days, and send a written quote. Free, no obligation. What the review covers.
Where we collect
Small business recycling across our area.
FJL runs scheduled rounds from Uxbridge across West London, Middlesex, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey and Hertfordshire. Find your town.
South West London
Buckinghamshire
West London
Hertfordshire
Source
Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England, GOV.UK, last updated 3 October 2025. Checked by FJL on 9 November 2026. This page is a plain English summary, not legal advice. For the full rules, see our Simpler Recycling guide.
FAQ
Small business Simpler Recycling, common questions
Does Simpler Recycling apply to small businesses?
Yes. Workplaces in England with fewer than 10 full time equivalent employees must separate their waste from 31 March 2027. Until then they are exempt. Businesses with 10 or more full time equivalent employees have had to comply since 31 March 2025.
What is the Simpler Recycling micro-firm exemption?
Micro-firms, meaning businesses with fewer than 10 full time equivalent employees, were given until 31 March 2027 to comply with the workplace recycling rules. The exemption ends on that date. After it, every workplace in scope must separate dry recyclables, food waste and general waste.
How do I count employees for the 10 FTE threshold?
Count every employee across the whole business, not per location. Each full-time employee counts as one and part-time staff count as a fraction based on their hours. Volunteers, contractors and self-employed workers do not count towards the total.
I have three small shops with four staff each. Am I a micro-firm?
No. The count covers the whole business, so three sites with four staff each is 12 employees and you should already be separating your waste. Separation then applies at each of the three shops.
Do I need a food waste collection if we do not have a kitchen?
You need a compliant arrangement for any food waste your workplace produces, even if you have no kitchen and do not serve food. That is usually a separate food waste collection. On-site composting is a permitted alternative where it is set up properly.
Can paper and card go in the same bin as plastic, cans and glass?
Not by default. Plastic, metal and glass can share one bin, but paper and card should be collected separately. They can only be combined if your waste collector completes a written co-collection assessment showing that separating them is not technically or economically practicable, or has no significant environmental benefit.
What happens if my small business does not comply?
The Environment Agency regulates Simpler Recycling and usually starts with advice and compliance notices. It is an offence to fail to comply with a compliance notice, and enforcement follows the Environment Agency's enforcement and sanctions policy. Separately, courts can impose unlimited fines for breaches of the waste duty of care.
Do I have to use the council for my business recycling?
No. Your collector can be a private waste company or your local authority, and you can use more than one provider. FJL can collect general waste, dry mixed recycling, paper and card, and food waste on one account.
Does this apply in Wales or Scotland?
No. Simpler Recycling applies in England. Wales and Scotland have their own workplace recycling rules.
How long does it take FJL to set up recycling and food waste?
Most new customers start within a week. Book a free waste review, we tell you which streams you need and send a written quote, and once you say yes we deliver the bins and add you to our rounds.
Free waste review
Get ready for 31 March 2027.
Give us your postcode, roughly how many staff you have and what bins you use now. We will tell you which streams you need and send a written quote. Free, no obligation. Want a straight quote instead? Say so in the message.
Prefer to talk? Call 0330 024 9180