A waste management plan is a short document that sets out what waste a business produces, how each type is handled and how the amount will be cut. It starts with a waste audit. A good plan lowers the waste bill and shows that the business is meeting its legal duties.

Tyre recycling turns worn out tyres into rubber crumb, fuel and new products. Tyres cannot go to landfill in the UK: whole tyres have been banned since 2003 and shredded tyres since 2006. A business that produces waste tyres must hand them to a registered waste carrier.

Commercial recycling is the separate collection of recyclable waste from a business, such as cardboard, paper, plastic, metal, glass and food. In England it has been a legal duty for most workplaces since 31 March 2025. Done well, it costs less than putting the same material in a general waste bin.

Sustainable packaging protects a product with the least material, is made from recycled or renewable content, and can be reused or recycled after use. In the UK it is no longer only a choice. A tax on plastic and fees on every tonne of packaging now make packaging that is hard to recycle cost more.

Waste to energy means burning or breaking down waste that cannot be recycled to produce electricity, heat or gas. In the UK most of it happens in energy from waste plants, which burn general waste to drive a turbine. It ranks above landfill but below recycling.

Commercial waste is any waste produced by a business, including a business run from home. It is also called business waste or trade waste. A business must store it safely, hand it only to a registered carrier and keep a record, and some of it, such as metal, cardboard and plastic film, can be sold.

A waste carrier licence is the registration a business needs before it transports waste. In England it is issued by the Environment Agency. You need one if you carry waste as part of your work, including your own, and you can be fined up to 5,000 pounds for carrying waste without it.

Extended producer responsibility, or EPR, makes the businesses that supply packaging pay the cost of collecting and recycling it. It applies across the UK from 2025 and replaces the old packaging waste rules. Packaging recovery notes, known as PRNs, continue alongside it as proof that packaging waste has been recycled.

Business waste collection is a paid service: a registered waste carrier empties your bins on an agreed schedule and takes the waste for recycling or disposal. Councils do not collect business waste for free. The law makes you responsible for your waste until it reaches an authorised site, so the collector you choose matters.

Urban mining is the recovery of metals and other materials from things people have thrown away, such as old electronics, cables, vehicles and buildings, in place of digging them out of the ground. The world produced 62 million tonnes of electronic waste in 2022, and less than a quarter of it was recorded as recycled.

The circular economy is a way of running the economy so that materials and products stay in use for as long as possible. Things are designed to be reused, repaired and recycled, so very little becomes waste. It is the opposite of the usual pattern of take, make and throw away.