New waste duties for businesses in Northern Ireland

The European Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC requires member states to take steps to develop "recycling societies". This will involve a shift in the way waste is viewed; from being a problem to being a valued resource. This resource centred approach can be summarised in the five steps of the waste hierarchy.

What you must do

In addition to the requirements covered in the other sections of this guideline, businesses in Northern Ireland must:

  • take all reasonable steps to apply the waste hierarchy to the management of waste
  • present glass, metal, plastic, paper, and card (including cardboard) for separate collection
  • take steps to maintain the quality of these dry recyclables presented for recycling, such as avoiding contamination by non target materials.

You may be able to present co-mingled materials so long as the collection, and then the management of the materials, is designed to produce high quality recycling.

The NIEA has produced a short guide to the duty of care responsibilities including advice and information for waste producers, carriers and those accepting, storing and treating waste.

NIEA: Duty of Care - a short guide

Food businesses

A food business is any business that carries out activities related to the processing, distribution, preparation or sale of food. This includes:

  • Restaurants and cafes
  • Shopping and food courts
  • Canteens
  • Hotels
  • Pubs that serve food
  • Shops that serve food
  • Supermarkets
  • Schools and colleges
  • Prisons, nursing homes and hospitals.

If you are a food business and you produce more than 5kg of food waste per week (approximately 1 kitchen caddy full) then you must be prepared to present food waste for separate collection:

NIEA: Food waste – Are you compliant?

Exempt businesses

Your businesses are exempt from the regulations if:

  • You produce less than 5kg of food waste per week
  • You deal with catering waste that has arisen from international transport. International is a Category 1 Animal By-product and therefore requires specialist management.

(5kg is roughly equivalent to a full domestic kitchen caddy)

There is a prohibition on the landfilling of separately collected food waste. The regulations also introduce a duty on businesses to ensure food waste is not deposited in a lateral drain or sewer.

Further Information

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