Retail Waste Collection & Management Services
Waste management in retail is a key focus area to reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill and help protect our planet. At Business Waste, we understand the difficulties the retail sector faces managing daily retail waste and offer a range of services for collection and disposal.
Whether you’re a small convenience store in a rural village, a large supermarket, shopping centre, or retail store in an airport, you still need efficient and cost-effective retail waste management. We work with all retail companies, no matter how big or small, to help you better manage your rubbish with our specialist retail waste collection services.
Retailers end up with many types of waste that could be harmful to their immediate surroundings and the environment. As a responsible retailer, you should know where your waste comes from and ends up.
Under Simpler Recycling, retailers with 10 or more full-time equivalent employees must separately collect food waste, glass, paper and card, and mixed recyclables. Retailers that supply packaged goods above certain thresholds also have obligations under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging.
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Get a fast FREE quote for your retail waste collections
- Free quote within 1 hr
- Any type of retail waste
- FREE bins and delivery
- We cover all of the UK
Retail waste disposal
and recycling
Methods of retail waste disposal depends on the type of rubbish your shop produces. It’s important that you store each waste stream in separate bins to avoid the chance of contamination, so as much as possible is recycled. Our licensed waste carriers can then collect your retail waste bins and take them to an appropriate facility for disposal.
We operate on a zero landfill policy, so aim to ensure as much waste in retail as possible is recycled or reused. Some of the common disposal and recycling methods for retail waste types include:
- Food waste – rather than heading to landfill, food waste can go through anaerobic digestion to produce biogas that’s used to generate renewable energy.
- Glass recycling – waste glass is sorted, cleaned, crushed, heated, and formed into new glass products.
- Plastic recycling – it depends on the type of plastic, but kinds like PET for drinks bottles are shredded, cleaned, melted, and turned into pellets to form new plastics.
- Textile waste – old clothes can be recycled by being shredded into polyester chips or the fibres cleaned, separated, and spun back into yarn.
- WEEE waste – electronic products are normally broken down into their parts, which are recycled based on their materials (such as metals and plastics).
- Cardboard – cardboard from delivery packaging is one of the largest waste streams for retailers. For large volumes of clean cardboard, a recycling rebate may be available.
Bins for shops
and shopping centres
Bins commonly used in shops and shopping centres vary depending on their size, the types and amount of waste produced. For large shopping centres that receive lots of deliveries, 1100 litre wheelie bins are popular (the largest available) to store general waste, cardboard, and dry mixed recycling.
To compress the likes of cardboard and paper, large supermarkets and shopping centres may also use a compactor or baler (if they have space). For smaller shops and retailers, standard two-wheel bins are common to safely store various waste types. All retailers require general waste bins in one or more sizes too.
Explore some of the commonly used retail waste bins.
If you produce over 3 tons of cardboard waste a month then consider a baler and cardboard waste rebates
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240L wheelie bin
A standard two-wheel bin that can be used for just food or glass waste, or general waste and recyclables.
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1100L wheelie bin
The largest four-wheel bin available to store general waste, dry mixed recycling, and other waste types.
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Balers
These large bins compact recyclable waste of the same type, such as paper, cardboard, and plastic, to save space.
Retail waste collection
Arrange retail waste collections with Business Waste wherever your shop, supermarket, or store is in the UK. We cover the whole country and provide retail waste management services to organisations of all sizes, from city centre clothes stores to the local village shop.
Enjoy free bins delivered to your retail outlet and simply pay for collection. Ensure you have an accessible point and enough space for delivery and storage of the bins you need. Then arrange retail waste pickup, and our licensed waste carriers will collect at an agreed time and date.
Fashion and clothing retail waste
Fashion and clothing retailers generate distinctive waste streams not present in other retail formats. Unsold stock and end-of-season clearance items, damaged returns, changing room hangers and fixtures, security tags, display mannequins, plastic garment bags, and branded packaging all require appropriate disposal or recycling routes.
We provide textile recycling collection for fashion retailers. Our solutions help divert unwanted clothing, fabric, and textile items from landfill through our dedicated textile recycling service.
UK fashion retail produces an estimated 300,000 tonnes of textile waste annually, much of which can be recycled or donated rather than landfilled. Contact us to arrange textile waste collection alongside your general retail waste service.
Explore more fashion statistics here.
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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
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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.
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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
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.
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How does retail
waste collection work?
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Select your free bins
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Arrange delivery
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Fill up your bin
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Get your business waste collected
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Retail waste regulations
In 1997, the Packaging Waste Regulations were introduced in the UK. The new regulations stated that retail businesses must comply with the European Directive on packaging waste. The regulations were introduced to encourage businesses to increase their use of recyclable packaging and decrease the amount of packaging they use.
In 2015, the UK government introduced new waste regulations that asked businesses to separate their recyclable materials from non-recyclable materials. For example, businesses are required to have separate bins for their paper, plastic, and glass waste. These regulations were introduced to help UK retailers to increase their recycling efforts.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging is a significant compliance obligation for retailers. If your retail business supplies 50 or more tonnes of packaging in a year and has a UK annual turnover of £2 million or more, you must register with an approved EPR compliance scheme, report packaging data, and pay EPR fees.
The Plastic Packaging Tax (£217.85 per tonne from April 2024) applies to plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content. If your business imports or manufactures 10 or more tonnes of plastic packaging annually, you must register and report.
We’ll help your retail operation manage packaging waste streams to support EPR compliance, providing recycling collections for plastic, cardboard, and mixed packaging with the documentation needed to support your EPR reporting.
Simpler Recycling for Retail businesses
From 31 March 2025, all UK retail businesses with 10 or more full-time equivalent employees must separately collect four waste streams from general waste:
- Food waste (grocery and food-to-go retailers)
- Glass bottles and jars
- Paper and cardboard
- Mixed recyclables (plastic, metal, cartons)
These cannot be mixed with general waste. Micro-businesses (under 10 FTE) must comply by 31 March 2027.
For retailers, this means the following. Food waste requires a separate collection for grocery stores, bakeries, and food-to-go outlets. Glass bins have to be put in place for wine merchants, off-licences, delis, and any retailer with a drinks licence. Mixed recycling bins are needed for plastic packaging, cans, and cartons. Separate paper and card collections must be scheduled for high-volume cardboard producers.
We’ll provide compliant separate bins and collection schedules for all Simpler Recycling streams, no matter the size or format of your operation.
What types of waste
are generated at retail sites?
Waste in the retail industry varies as retailers handle all sorts of products, most of which include packaging. Retail stores often specialise in particular products – some deal with clothing, while others focus on foodstuff, and some do both (depending on the business’ size). Food waste in retail is a key focus area.
Some of the main types of waste generated at retail sites include but are not limited to:
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Packaging waste
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Food waste
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Plastic waste
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Cardboard waste
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Glass waste
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Metal waste
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Textile waste
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WEEE waste
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Supermarket waste
Retail waste FAQs
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What is a retail site waste management plan?
Every UK business needs a waste management plan. For shops and stores, a retail waste management plan ensures all rubbish is disposed of correctly and ensures efficient waste management systems are in place. A waste management system can identify areas where you create excess refuse to reduce the amount of retail waste going to landfill.
Site waste management plans (SWMPs) were introduced to reduce the amount of waste businesses produce. Retailers use SWMPs to plan how any waste they generate is managed. A SWMP contains important information such as what waste needs to be recycled, disposed of, or reused, and how the business will do so. The plan must be regularly updated to ensure it accurately reflects the waste needs and obligations of a business.
Technically, there’s no legal requirement for a retail business to have a SWMP. However, introducing and maintaining one has many benefits. For example, a business can reduce costs by planning the most efficient waste management systems and increase their profits by using a SWMP to look at where they can reduce waste.
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How can you reduce retail waste?
Reducing retail waste is important to help the environment and save your business money. There are a few ways a retail business can cut the amount of rubbish produced. To reduce retail waste, you can try:
- Analysing sales patterns to avoid over-purchasing products
- Reducing packaging and single-use plastics
- Making processes digital and reducing paper use
- Reusing plastic crates instead of cardboard boxes
- Returning used clothes hangers to the supplier for reuse or recycling
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How much waste is produced by the retail industry?
The amount of waste in the retail industry is hard to quantify as it covers a range of different types and encompasses all sorts of businesses. One progress report claims that 280,000 tonnes of retail food waste are produced each year in the UK. However, there are still large amounts of packaging and other waste generated in retail too – which doesn’t all get recycled.
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Why is it important for retail shops to have green credentials?
In today’s world, businesses face increasing pressure to ‘go green’ and create sustainable business models. This pressure isn’t just from the government but also from consumers. Today’s consumer is interested in the sustainability of a product and will avoid retail shops that have a reputation for treating the environment poorly.
A retail shop with a positive green reputation is seen as trustworthy by the consumer. They can build a positive reputation easily. Plus, you’ll have a more positive impact in protecting the future of our planet and reduce the landfill tax you pay in the process.
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Does your retail outfit need a recycling baler?
A recycling baler is a common bin used by many retailers. The benefits of using a recycling baler include streamlining your waste management system, as waste will be compressed into a bale that’s easily stored. This frees up valuable space for storage and transportation.
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Do retail businesses need to separate waste under Simpler Recycling?
Yes. As of 31 March 2025, all UK retail businesses with 10 or more full-time equivalent employees must separately collect food waste, glass, paper and cardboard, and mixed recyclables from general waste. These cannot go in general waste bins.
Retailers under 10 FTE must comply by 31 March 2027. Business Waste provides compliant separate collection bins and schedules for all Simpler Recycling streams.
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Can retailers get a rebate on cardboard recycling?
Yes, in some cases. High-volume retail producers of clean, segregated cardboard may be eligible for a rebate based on the volume and quality of material. Mixed or contaminated cardboard typically has no rebate value.
We assess rebate potential for retail cardboard collections, simply contact us to discuss your volume.
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Does my retail business need to register for EPR?
If your retail business supplies 50 or more tonnes of packaging in a year and has an annual UK turnover of £2 million or more, you must register with an approved EPR compliance scheme. Smaller retailers with lower thresholds may also have obligations.
Plastic packaging that contains less than 30% recycled content is also subject to Plastic Packaging Tax if you import or manufacture 10 or more tonnes annually.
We provide retailers with the documentation to manage packaging waste collections and support EPR compliance.
Get a fast and free quote
Get a fast FREE quote for your retail waste collections
- Free quote within 1 hour
- Any type of retail waste
- FREE bins and delivery
- We cover all of the UK
Published 13th April 2022 by Mark Hall. Last modified 2nd July 2026