GuidesEngland
Recycling records for warehouses
Last reviewed 25 October 2026
Warehouses and factories in England produce large amounts of cardboard and plastic packaging, plus general waste, and sometimes food waste from a canteen. Cardboard is paper and card. It stays out of mixed plastic unless a written assessment is on file. Process waste that is hazardous is a different duty and is not this guide.
Packaging at scale
Pallets of cardboard, shrink wrap and cans from a staff area are different streams. Paper and card are collected separately in England. Plastic, metal and glass may be collected together. Soft plastic the collector will not take stays in general waste rather than being forced into the recycling.
A canteen that produces food waste needs a separate food collection. If there is no food waste, record that. The staff total for the England date is the whole business, including office staff on another site, not only the people on the warehouse floor.
Shared yards and other nations
A landlord who runs the yard bins should confirm, in writing, which streams are collected. Keep that letter with the site. A warehouse in Wales separates the Welsh streams, including glass on its own and unsold textiles where those arise. Scotland applies the dry-recyclable duty to every business.
If the site is in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, read the guide for that nation. The streams and dates there are different. The free check on SortProof uses the England rules.
In short
- Record the warehouse as a site, and a separate canteen if its bins differ.
- Keep cardboard out of the plastic stream unless a written assessment is on file.
- Record food waste only if the site produces it.
- Keep hazardous process waste out of these recycling notes.
- File the contract or the site owner’s confirmation.
Questions
Does shrink wrap count as plastic recycling?
Only if your collector accepts it in the dry recycling. If they do not, it stays in general waste. Do not contaminate the stream they do collect.
Do agency staff count towards the England date?
Contractors do not count. Use employees’ full-time-equivalent hours. Read the deadlines guide before you exclude a group.
Related guides
SortProof stores the record you enter. It is guidance, not a certificate, and it is not issued by Defra or the Environment Agency.