Simpler Recycling: the dates, the streams and the penalties

Simpler Recycling is the reform that standardised what must be separated across England. The business deadline has already passed, the household one is close, and a third date in 2027 catches the smallest firms and plastic film.

Simpler Recycling: key facts

Workplaces with 10+ FTE staff	Had to comply by 31 March 2025
Households in England	By 31 March 2026
Micro-firms, under 10 FTE	By 31 March 2027
Kerbside plastic film	By 31 March 2027, for households and businesses
The streams	Glass, metal, plastic, paper and card, food waste
Enforcement	Environment Agency compliance notice, then an unlimited fine on conviction

What has to be separated

Three things must always be kept apart from each other: dry recyclable waste, food waste and non-recyclable residual waste. The statute lists five recyclable streams, which are glass, metal, plastic, paper and card, and food waste.

Inside dry recycling there is exactly one mandatory split. Paper and card must be collected separately from plastic, metal and glass. Those three may share a single container, which surprises people who assumed glass would be the awkward one.

Food waste is included with no volume threshold at all. The guidance is explicit that you must collect food waste even if the workplace does not serve food or have a kitchen, and however little of it there is.

There is one route around the paper and card split: your waste collector may complete a written co-collection assessment concluding that separate collection is not technically or economically practicable, or brings no significant environmental benefit. It is their document, but it is your compliance, so ask to see it.

Who counts as a micro-firm

Fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees. Part-time staff count proportionally. Volunteers, contractors and self-employed workers do not count towards the total.

That arithmetic matters, because a business sitting just above 10 FTE has been in scope since 31 March 2025 and one just below has until 31 March 2027. Work it out properly rather than estimating headcount.

What is excluded

Some items in the right material family are still out. On glass: candles, drinking glasses, flat and window glass, glass cookware such as Pyrex, light bulbs and tubes, microwave plates, mirrors, vases and ceramics such as crockery. Drinks bottles and rinsed empty food jars are in.

On plastic: PVC packaging, and polystyrene in both expanded and high impact forms, such as packing beads, cannot typically be collected. Plastic film is not included yet, but kerbside film collections for households and businesses arrive by 31 March 2027.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Wales went further and earlier. Since 6 April 2024 all Welsh businesses, charities and public sector organisations have had to separate into six streams: food, paper and card, glass, metals with plastic and cartons, unsold textiles, and unsold small electrical equipment. Food separation applies to premises producing more than 5kg a week. There is no micro-business exemption. Wales also bans food waste to sewer, separately collected waste going to incineration or landfill, and all wood waste to landfill.

Scotland has required separate dry recyclable collection from non-domestic premises since 1 January 2014 and separate food waste collection for food businesses at non-rural premises since 1 January 2016, under the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012.

Northern Ireland requires food businesses producing more than 5kg of food waste a week to present it for separate collection, under the Food Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015, and bans food waste to drain or sewer. There is no Northern Ireland equivalent of the English dry recyclables reform.

What happens if you have not done it

Enforcement in England is by the Environment Agency, which issues a compliance notice first. Failing to comply with a compliance notice is an offence, triable either way, with a fine and no statutory cap, so an unlimited fine.

In practice the realistic sequence is not a surprise prosecution but a notice you then have to act on quickly, which is an uncomfortable position if your bin store has no room for a fourth container. The two things worth doing now are counting your FTE properly and asking your collector, in writing, how their service meets the paper and card split.

Our directory lists companies collecting each recyclable material by postcode, so you can find a separate paper and card collection if your current supplier cannot provide one.

The reform standardises what must be separated; what each stream is then worth is a separate question, covered in our guides to glass recycling, plastic recycling and paper recycling.

Frequently asked questions

What are the Simpler Recycling deadlines?

Workplaces with 10 or more full-time equivalent employees had to comply by 31 March 2025. Households in England come into scope by 31 March 2026. Micro-firms with fewer than 10 FTE, and kerbside plastic film collections, follow by 31 March 2027.

Can glass, metal and plastic go in one bin?

Yes. Those three may share a container. The one mandatory split inside dry recycling is that paper and card must be collected separately from them.

Do I need a food waste bin if we have no kitchen?

In England, yes. The guidance is explicit that food waste must be collected even if the workplace does not serve food or have a kitchen, and however little is produced.

How do I count full-time equivalent employees?

Part-time staff count proportionally. Volunteers, contractors and self-employed workers do not count. Fewer than 10 FTE makes you a micro-firm with until 31 March 2027.

What is the penalty for not complying?

The Environment Agency issues a compliance notice first. Failing to comply with that notice is an offence carrying a fine with no statutory cap, so an unlimited fine.

Sources

Updated 8 October 2026 by Ayo Isinkaye, founder of The Green Alchemist.

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