Packaging Waste Collection & Disposal Services

We offer every business a unique assessment to provide the best waste management options for your packaging rubbish – personally tailored to your company. Disposal of packaging waste depends on the material it’s made from and whether it’s recyclable. We’ll provide you with free bins you simply fill with your old packaging.

The rubbish should be separated into waste streams – whether it’s packaging waste made from metal, glass, paper and card, or any other material. Depending on your requirements, we can provide your business with the best size, type, and number of bins, as well as a collection frequency based on the amount of packaging waste you produce.

When waste packaging is not recycled it can harm the environment by ending up in landfill or being incinerated. If the likes of plastic and metal packaging go to landfill it can take hundreds of years to decompose, releasing toxic substances into the soil and nearby water. These pollutants may have long-term negative effects on the ecosystem.

Should packaging waste be incinerated rather than recycled and turned into new products, it requires a lot more energy to destroy. Plus, the process can release harmful gases into the air, such as vinyl chloride and hexane. This can cause air pollution, harming human, animal, and other wildlife health.

Any material used to contain, protect, deliver, or transport goods. This includes cardboard boxes, shrink wrap, cans, and bottles that become waste once the product is removed.

Food packaging waste is any kind of container used to store food. This could be the likes of plastic trays for refrigerated meat in a supermarket, cardboard boxes to store dry food, and aluminium drinks cans. It’s a wide area and includes packaging materials mostly made from plastic, paper, card, and metal.

A lot of food packaging waste is recyclable, just it requires cleaning before it can be reused. This is to avoid contaminants preventing recycling. There are also some types of food packaging that are hard or impossible to recycle as they consist of a combination of materials such as ceramics, wax, glass, and more.

Thinking about how you buy food for your business and making a few small changes can help reduce food packaging waste. If you offer free fruit, try to use a supplier that provides it all in one box rather than individual bags. Or even better, grow your own fruit and veg if you have the facilities.

Using refill services for tea, coffee, and other foodstuffs also avoids using extra plastic packaging. Getting milk and juice delivered in glass bottles means they’re easier to recycle compared to plastic, while providing reusable water bottles and coffee cups can significantly cut down on food packaging waste from supermarkets and coffee houses.

Find out how to reduce packaging waste

There are a few ways you can reuse packaging waste aside from recycling depending on the material and type. Some ideas include to:

• Reuse cardboard boxes to store office supplies such as stationery, wires, and dry food.
• Turn old jars into plant pots and add some greenery to your workplace.
• Transform cans into pen or cutlery holders, just remove any sharp edges.
• Use any paper packaging waste as wrapping paper.
• Shred old paper packaging then use to fill and protect any parcels.

Order in bulk, switch to reusable transit packaging, remove unnecessary layers, and introduce staff sorting guidance to reduce contamination.

The UK generates millions of tonnes annually, making packaging a major commercial waste stream that increases costs if not separated efficiently.

Packaging Waste Regulations require obligated producers to reduce packaging, recycle more, and report recovery figures each year. Duty-of-care laws apply to all businesses handling packaging waste.

For more information, visit our comprehensive packaging waste guide.

If your UK business supplies 50 or more tonnes of packaging annually and has a turnover of £2 million or more, you must register with an approved EPR compliance scheme, report packaging data, and pay EPR fees.

Smaller businesses with lower thresholds also have obligations. Business Waste Ltd can help with Duty of Care documentation to support your EPR reporting.

Packaging waste is any packaging material that has been used to contain, protect, or present goods, and is no longer needed. This includes cardboard boxes, plastic bottles and trays, glass jars, metal cans, plastic film, bubble wrap, polystyrene foam, carrier bags, and paper bags.

Under Simpler Recycling (April 2025), most packaging types must be separated from general waste and collected separately.

From April 2025, businesses in England with 10 or more full-time equivalent employees must separate plastic bottles, tubs, trays, and containers; paper and card; glass bottles and jars; and metal cans and tins from general waste for separate collection.

Micro-businesses (fewer than 10 FTE) must comply by March 2027. Business Waste Ltd provides the right bins and collections for each stream.