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UK Plastic Recycling

Commercial Plastic Waste Collection & Recycling Services

Commercial plastic waste is one of the most common waste streams for UK businesses. Bottles, containers, wrap, film, packaging, tubs, trays, and production offcuts can fill bins quickly when they’re not separated properly. Different plastics may also need different storage, collection, and recycling routes.

Business Waste Ltd provides commercial plastic waste collections for businesses across the UK, with free bins, scheduled collections, and Duty of Care paperwork included. We’ll help you meet Simpler Recycling rules and divert plastic waste from landfill where possible.

We collect a bin every 30 seconds
16,835
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Get a fast FREE quote for your plastic waste

  • Free quote within 1 hour
  • Commercial plastic waste covered
  • FREE bins and delivery
  • We cover all of the UK
Compliance support
Nationwide UK coverage
Free duty-of-care
Free quote in 1 hour
Free plastic waste bins
Rated 4.9/5 on Trustpilot
Excellent customer care

How plastic waste collection works

  1. Get your free quote

    Tell us what plastic waste you produce, how much you have, and how often you need it collected.

  2. Receive your free bins

    We’ll deliver the right bins for your plastic waste, with no rental or delivery fees. You only pay for collection.

  3. Fill your bins correctly

    Use your bins for clean, dry plastic waste. We’ll guide you on what can and can’t go in, so food, liquids, chemicals, and general waste do not contaminate the load.

  4. We collect and recycle

    Licensed carriers collect your plastic waste on the agreed schedule. Recyclable plastic is sent to authorised recycling facilities. Plastic that can’t be recycled is sent through the best available recovery route, such as Energy from Waste.

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Plastic waste collection with
Business Waste Ltd

Reliable plastic waste disposal for UK businesses

Plastic waste can be awkward because it all looks similar, but it can’t always go in the same bin. Bottles, tubs, film, hard plastics, offcuts, and mixed plastics may need different collection or treatment routes.

We’ll help you choose the right bins, set up scheduled collections, and keep plastic waste separate from food, liquids, general waste, and hazardous materials.

Benefits of Business Waste Ltd plastic waste management:

  • Free bins and delivery with no rental fees
  • Landfill diversion – where possible, all plastic waste we collect is either recycled or sent to Energy from Waste facilities
  • Duty of care paperwork and waste transfer notes supplied
  • Rebate checks for businesses producing high volumes of recyclable plastic
  • Flexible scheduling: daily, weekly, or fortnightly collections
  • Nationwide coverage across every UK postcode
  • Quick support. Change collections or request expert guidance on your process

Interested in recycling rebates? Check out our plastic recycling rebates service

Plastic Recycling Rebates

Plastic waste collection by sector

Different businesses produce different plastic waste. A shop may need collections for packaging and bottles, while a manufacturer may need support with offcuts, moulded plastics, wrap, or bulk packaging.

We arrange plastic waste collections for sites such as:

  • Retail and hospitality: bottles, tubs, trays, wrap, packaging, and catering plastics
  • Offices: drinks bottles, food packaging, stationery plastics, and dry mixed recycling
  • Manufacturing and industrial sites: plastic offcuts, moulded plastics, pallets, wrap, and bulk packaging
  • Healthcare and education: bottles, packaging, PPE, and mixed plastics that may need separate checks
  • Construction: PVC piping, buckets, wrap, hard plastics, and packaging

We’ll look at what plastic waste you produce, how much space you have, and how often it needs collecting. Then we’ll recommend the right bins and collection schedule.

Empty waste plastic bottles.

Read Our Customer Reviews

Business Waste Ltd

4.6 Star Rated (218 Google reviews)

5 Star Rating

Efficient communication

We have worked alongside Business Waste for quite a few months now, and their efficiency with communication and resolving queries is great. Allie especially is a pleasure to liaise with. Great company from a B2B perspective

Flo Bolton-Smith

5 Star Rating

The real definition of service

The service received was simply outstanding. Business Waste gave good advice and a demonstration of a willingness to help and get me a solution.

Jide Banwo

5 Star Rating

Exceptional service

I’ve been using Business Waste for our weekly rubbish collection, and I can’t recommend them highly enough! They are an exceptional, well-run, and organised company that truly understands the needs of their clients.

Gregory Harrand

5 Star Rating

Excellent service set up process

I was impressed by the speed of setting up the service. I made a single phone call to Business Waste and all the necessary paperwork was done efficiently.

Yahya Saeed

Trusted by 30,000+ UK Businesses

“Business Waste has helped us in so many ways. They took into account our specific needs when designing our plan, helped educate the team, and ensured consistent, reliable collections. They’re always on hand to suggest improvements and efficiently handle any queries we have.”
Charles Taylor
Managing Director, Composite Prime

Composite Prime is a fast-growing manufacturing business on a busy trading estate in Bingley. As production increased, the business started producing a consistent volume of plastic waste alongside other commercial waste streams.

As demand grew, they needed a waste setup that could keep pace with production and support their sustainability goals.

With more than 20 employees and growing production, weekly collections and clear waste separation helped keep the warehouse organised. Their commitment to using recycled HDPE plastic meant their waste processes also needed to reflect the same environmental responsibility.

Business Waste Ltd now supports Composite Prime with weekly collections, cleaner waste streams, and ongoing compliance support. Usable offcuts are repurposed into product samples where possible, and the site has a clearer system for managing plastic waste alongside day-to-day production.

Get a fast and free plastic waste management quote

Get a quote

Plastic waste bins for different sites

The right container helps keep plastic clean, dry, and separate from general waste. We’ll recommend a bin size based on your waste volume, storage space, and how often you need scheduled collections.

Bin options include:

  • 240-litre wheelie bins: suitable for smaller sites producing bottles, tubs, trays, and packaging
  • 1100-litre wheelie bins: useful where plastic builds up more quickly but space is limited
  • Sacks and internal bins: useful for offices, staff areas, and low-volume plastic waste

For sites with large volumes of plastic waste, we can also offer plastic balers.

What can usually go in a plastic waste bin:

  • Clean plastic bottles, tubs, trays, and containers
  • Clean plastic packaging
  • Plastic wrap, bags, or film where agreed with your collector
  • Production offcuts where the plastic type is known and accepted

What should stay out:

  • Food- or liquid-contaminated plastics
  • Polystyrene unless pre-agreed
  • Hazardous plastic waste or chemical containers
  • PPE or clinical waste, unless a suitable specialist collection is arranged
  • Mixed plastics that cannot be identified or accepted by the recycling facility

Our team will confirm what can go in each bin, helping you avoid contamination and keep recycling costs down.

Types of plastic waste we collect

We collect many common commercial plastics, but not every plastic can go in the same bin. Some need to be separated by polymer type, cleaned first, or collected through a specialist route.

We also handle more specialist plastic waste:

Contaminated plastics (processed via the most suitable recycling or recovery route)

What are the different types of plastic?
bales of plastic at MRF.

Plastic film, stretch wrap, and polythene recycling

Plastic film and stretch wrap are common waste streams for logistics, retail, distribution, and manufacturing businesses. This includes pallet wrap, shrink wrap, polythene bags, and carrier bags.

They cannot go in standard mixed recycling bins due to the risk of wrapping around conveyor belts and mechanical sorting equipment, causing blockages.

Business Waste Ltd can arrange separate film collections for businesses producing regular volumes. Baling may also help reduce storage space and collection costs.

Plastic waste rules UK businesses should know

Plastic waste rules vary depending on what your business produces. For many workplaces in England, Simpler Recycling means plastic must be separated from food waste and general waste before collection.

Some businesses may also need to think about packaging rules. Plastic Packaging Tax can apply to plastic packaging manufactured or imported into the UK, and England has restrictions on some single-use plastic items used by food and drink businesses.

You don’t need to work it all out before arranging collections. Business Waste Ltd can help set up the right bins, collection schedule, and paperwork for the plastic waste your site produces.

Plastic waste and Simpler Recycling compliance

Businesses have a Duty of Care for their waste. For plastic, that means separating recyclable plastic where required, using licensed waste carriers, and keeping the right paperwork.

Business Waste Ltd provides Duty of Care documentation, waste transfer records, and scheduled collections through licensed carriers.

When you work with Business Waste Ltd, you receive:

  • Free Duty-of-Care documentation (required under the Environmental Protection Act 1990)
  • Collections by our fully licensed waste carriers in line with the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011
  • Plastic waste recycling that follows the Waste Hierarchy, prioritising reuse and recycling over disposal
  • Landfill diversion – we recycle plastics wherever possible
Learn more about our sustainability commitments

How your plastic waste is treated

After collection, plastic waste is taken to an authorised plastics reprocessor or Materials Recycling Facility (MRF). It’s sorted by polymer type. Recyclable rigid plastics, such as PET bottles and HDPE containers, are baled, shredded, cleaned, and turned into pellets for new plastic products.

Plastic film is separately processed at film recycling facilities where possible. Non-recyclable plastic (black plastic, contaminated plastic, EPS) is directed to Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities where it is converted to electricity and heat rather than going to landfill, supporting our commitment to landfill diversion.

Simpler Recycling and plastic recycling

Since 31 March 2025, businesses in England with 10 or more full-time equivalent employees have been legally required under Simpler Recycling to separate plastic bottles, tubs, trays, and containers from general waste. Micro-businesses with fewer than 10 FTE employees must comply by 31 March 2027.

Business Waste Ltd provides the right plastic recycling bins, scheduled collections, and Duty of Care documentation to help you meet these rules.

  • BIO DEGRADABLE WASTE
    Free Bins
  • BIO DEGRADABLE WASTE
    Landfill Diversion
  • COMMERCIAL WASTE
    Bespoke Quote
  • COMPOSITE WASTE
    Free Duty-of-Care
  • business waste icon
    1 Month’s Free Collections
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Get a fast and free quote

Get a fast FREE quote for plastic waste disposal

  • Free quote within 1 hour
  • Any type of plastic
  • FREE bins and delivery
  • We cover all of the UK

 

Plastic waste FAQs

  • bin shapes icon What is plastic waste?

    Plastic waste includes any plastic material your business no longer needs. This includes bottles, bags, trays, tubs, packaging, shrink wrap, and manufacturing offcuts.

  • bin shapes icon How is commercial plastic waste recycled?

    Plastic is sorted by type, cleaned, shredded, and processed into pellets that are turned into new products. Where plastics can’t be recycled, they may be recovered through energy from waste.

  • bin shapes icon How do I reduce plastic waste in my business?

    Start by checking what plastic your business buys, where it builds up, and what can be swapped for reusable or lower-plastic alternatives. Then make sure staff know which plastics can be recycled and which bins to use.

  • bin shapes icon What bin should plastic waste go in?

    Use a dedicated plastic recycling bin and ensure items are clean and dry to avoid contamination.

    You can learn more about what bins are required for plastic waste here.

  • bin shapes icon What happens to the plastic after collection?

    Your waste is transferred to an authorised plastic recycling facility for processing into new materials or directed to Energy-from-Waste recovery if recycling isn’t possible.

  • bin shapes icon Can businesses recycle black plastic?

    Black plastic trays, pots, and containers are difficult to recycle because the carbon-based pigment that makes them black absorbs infrared light used by optical sorting equipment, making them invisible to the sorters.

    As a result, most black plastic waste in the UK goes to Energy from Waste facilities rather than mechanical recycling. Where possible, switching from black to clear, white, or other coloured plastic packaging eliminates this problem.

  • bin shapes icon Does my business need to separate plastic under Simpler Recycling?

    Yes, if your business in England has 10 or more full-time equivalent employees, you have been legally required since 31 March 2025 to separate plastic bottles, tubs, trays, and containers from general waste for separate collection. Business Waste Ltd provides the right bins and collections to help your business meet these requirements.

  • bin shapes icon What is the Plastic Packaging Tax and does it affect my business?

    Plastic Packaging Tax is £228.82 per tonne from 1 April 2026. It applies to plastic packaging components manufactured in, or imported into, the UK that contain less than 30% recycled plastic. If your business manufactures or imports 10 tonnes or more of plastic packaging in 12 months, you may need to register and report to HMRC.

Plastic waste management in the UK

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Published 7th April 2022 by Mark Hall. Last modified 3rd July 2026