Simpler Recycling is designed to improve stagnating recycling rates by standardising and streamlining collections from all households, businesses, schools and hospitals. 

Organisations will be required to separate dry recyclables - including paper, cardboard, plastic packaging, glass and metal - from general waste for collection. If your business generates food waste, this will also need to be separated for collection. Compliance is mandatory and organisations that ignore the new rules will face potential fines from their local authority. 

Sounding a bit… ominous? Don’t worry, our team has gone the extra mile to help - we’ve even designed our first plant-based recyclable packaging collection, Back to Nature, specifically for this new legislation. Read on to discover more about Simpler Recycling, what it means for your foodservice operation and how we can help.

What is Simpler Recycling?

Under the new Simpler Recycling plan, people across England will be able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school. This new legislation not only aims to change consumer behaviour, but that of product manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers as well. (resource.co)

Let’s break it down:

• By 31st March 2025, businesses with 10 or more employees, schools, hospitals and other ‘non-household municipal premises’ in England will be required to separate dry recyclables (which includes paper, cardboard, plastic packaging, glass and metal) from general waste for collection. 
• In addition to dry recyclables, if a business generates food waste, no matter how small the quantity, this will also need to be separated for collection.
• Micro businesses (fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees) will be given until 2027 to comply. 
• By 31 March 2027, kerbside plastic film collections from businesses and relevant non-domestic premises (schools and hospitals), as well as households, will also begin.
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Why introduce Simpler Recycling?

Simpler Recycling is a response to "flat-lining" recycling rates across the country. UK household recycling rates have hovered around 45% without any marked increase over the last 10 years. (17% in 2008). The goal is to increase recycling rates and drive a more circular economy by streamlining and standardising the recycling process, eliminating the confusion caused by the differing recycling practices currently used by local authorities. 

Sitting alongside the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging and the Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers, Simpler Recycling is part of the Government’s ambition to recycle 65% of municipal waste by 2035 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, saving the equivalent of £11.8 billion. (Simpler Recycling) 

How can businesses prepare before the 1st April deadline?

Businesses, especially those in the food industry, must prepare for significant changes. 

The first step is to conduct a waste audit to assess the type of waste you regularly produce and ensure you dispose of it appropriately and compliantly. Examine any materials you are using, assess supply chains and consider alternative types of product packaging to make Simpler Recycling easier to manage. 

Food businesses will need to ensure that food waste is separated from general waste, which may require new processes and training. You will need to ensure that your team and customers place food waste in the appropriate bins as this will not be allowed to be bagged together with general waste. 

In terms of increased costs for business, this depends on the number of bins required for your recyclable waste, the volume you produce and / or how frequently you’ll need them collected. (Bar Magazine) You can use the WRAP Simpler Recycling calculator to assess any changes.

From 1st April 2025, there will also be a significant increase in landfill taxes (from £103.70 per tonne to £126.15 per tonne); yet another incentive to reduce your landfill-bound general waste collections in favour of cheaper recyclables collections.

How Planglow can help

Our policy - as many waste streams as possible

A key move to mitigate costs is to assess your food packaging and switch to products which can be disposed of in multiple ways. As a leader in sustainable foodservice packaging, we aim to find the most environmentally sound disposal method of food-to-go packaging waste and make our products suitable for as many waste streams as possible - whether it's home composting, industrial composting, or recycling. This approach not only helps to reduce waste, but also ensures flexibility and increases sustainability.

OPLR membership

In advance of Simpler Recycling, we have become members of the OPRL, a not-for-profit organisation and the UK’s independent authority on packaging recyclability. We are in the process of adding the OPRL logo to our products to declare their suitability for card recycling. You can read our Q & A with Emily Gardiner, Packaging and Recycling Manager, OPRL, and Rachael Sawtell, our Marketing Director, to dig deeper into what food packaging can be recycled. 

Simpler Recycling, Back to Nature

Our Back to Nature food packaging and labelling collection has been designed specifically in preparation for the new legislation. All our packaging utilises renewably managed, plant-based materials, but the window patch products in this new range are suitable for recycling without the need for separating the window (as they fall under the 10% OPRL threshold). As long as the food packaging is empty of food waste, we have been advised that these products can be recycled. As Emily Gardiner, Packaging and Recycling Manager, OPRL told us:

“If the PLA coating falls under 10%, then other food packaging (not coffee cups) can use the ‘Recycle’ label, ideally with an ‘Empty’ or ‘Scrape’ call to action, to minimise food waste.”

In addition to being recyclable, the bowls in the Back to Nature range are also home compostable - opening up another route for disposal once they’ve been used. The Back to Nature labels and stickers are each made from 100% recycled paper too. 

Close the loop

Speaking of opening up as many waste disposal routes as possible, we also offer a closed-loop solution to food and packaging waste disposal. As industrial composting services are not currently available to much of the UK, our closed-loop solution sidesteps the waste collection services that may or may not be an option for your food business.

By teaming up with bio-processing experts, PRM Waste Systems, we can offer an easy and cost-effective method for disposing of food and packaging waste onsite. PRM has developed brilliant bio-processing units (about the same size as a large wheelie bin or skip) that break food and plant-based packaging down. This byproduct can then enjoy a second life as a soil enricher or produce a supplementary biomass fuel.

Watch our video to find out more about the benefits to our customers. 

Is your business ready for Simpler Recycling? 

Whatever stage of preparation you’re at to comply with the legislation from 1st April 2025, we’re here to help.

• Check out the Back to Nature recyclable packaging and labelling range 
• Request a sample pack
• Contact us with any questions