About the Commercial and Industrial Recycling Guide

This guide is aimed at the person who is responsible for managing the waste at your business. For large organisations with multiple sites or offices, you may have a dedicated Waste Manager.

The commercial and industrial sector is diverse and may include individual or shared office workspace environments. This guidance will be useful to managers responsible for operations within the following sectors: drink and tobacco; textile, wood, paper and publishing; chemical non-metallic minerals manufacturing; metal manufacturing; machinery and equipment; power and utility. Agriculture, mining, sewerage and construction sectors could also be included from the wider industrial sectors.

In this guide, we’ll take you through five steps to implementing recycling in your business – below is an outline of what we’ll be explaining. Regardless of your sector, if your business is new to recycling, work your way through from Step 1. If you’re after advice on a particular stage, click the links below to jump to the relevant section.

This guide only deals with non-hazardous municipal waste – the sorts of waste materials also produced in the home. We won’t be covering how to manage hazardous or other specialist waste your setting may produce. Hazardous wastes such as used batteries or chemicals must be collected and disposed of responsibly whilst other wastes such as furniture, storage cupboards or stationery can be reused by donating them to charities

Good to know:

There are a number of sources of information and guidance available to the commercial and industrial sector to assist in the management of these other waste streams:

• WRAP’s Business Resource Efficiency Guide Business Resource Efficiency Guide: Resource Efficiency for Managers | WRAP

• How to recycle your office waste | nibusinessinfo.co.uk – Northern Ireland Business Information has lots of useful information on office resource efficiency and how to cut your office waste, along with links to useful sites and waste management companies.

• The Better Buildings Partnership is a collaboration of leading property owners working to improve the sustainability of commercial buildings. BPP’s work includes reducing carbon emissions through action on energy, water, and waste: Better Buildings Partnership

• The Managing Agents Partnership is a collaboration of UK property managers working to improve sustainable management of commercial real estate: Managing Agents Partnership

• The WARPIT reuse and sharing platform can be used to trade items for reuse within your business’s departments and across a wider WARPIT network of public sector organisations who are also WARPIT users.

• The National Cup Recycling Scheme is the UK’s largest paper cup recycling scheme. The Scheme brings together major retailers, waste management companies and UK paper mills all with the shared aim of growing the infrastructure needed to increase the number of paper cups being collected and recycled in the UK.

• The Resource matching service | Invest Northern Ireland, provides an opportunity to transfer business waste, unwanted materials and bi-products from one business or organisation to be reused, recycled, reprocessed and repackaged by another.

• Community Wood Recycling Network – is a nationwide network of 24 social enterprises that collect wood waste from companies to stock a network of reclaimed timber stores.

• Business in the Community NI’s Climate Action Resources hub provides practical tools and guidance to help businesses cut emissions and work toward net zero.

• ReStore is Habitat for Humanity's social enterprise which directly tackles poverty in Ireland. They help families access low cost home improvement materials, including building materials like wood, providing training and employability support and diverting tons of material from landfill protecting the planet.

• Northern Ireland Resources Network (NIRN) is a member-led organisation promoting reuse, repair, and circular economy initiatives across Northern Ireland

• FAQ and guidance on classifying wood on Wood Recyclers Association website

• NetRegs – Environmental legislation

• Legislation Update Service – subscription service covering emerging legislation or regulations in relation to waste management and recycling): https://thecompliancepeople.co.uk/legislation-update-service/