DEFRA Shared Provisions Scale-up Project - RM Programme

WRAP, on behalf of DEFRA, is exploring practical ways to reduce the associated cost and space impacts on workplaces and other non-domestic premises (NDPs) of Simpler Recycling. One potential approach which has been identified is shared waste provision, which could help lower costs, improve operational efficiency and reduce the number of bins required at a site. This project is scaling up the learning from previous pilot work in this area and has been developed to test how shared provision could work in practice and to generate real-world evidence on its feasibility, benefits and implementation requirements.

Background

One way of delivering this approach is through container sharing, where neighbouring workplaces share waste and recycling containers, for example on a high street or across an industrial estate. More broadly, shared provision describes arrangements in which a small number of workplaces in the same geographic area work together to access waste management services. Its primary purpose is to help reduce the cost burden on small workplaces while supporting compliance with the new recycling requirements.

WRAP considers that the main forms of shared provision or collection are:

1. Shared bins – usually an informal arrangement between two or more workplaces.

2. Shared collection – where waste and recycling collections are typically organised by a facilities management company or landlord, and the cost of waste and recycling removal from the premises by a caretaker or cleaner is included within the lease, rent or service charge. This applies only where the same management company or landlord is responsible for the premises.

3. Shared facility – where a central waste facility is provided for workplaces to use, with employees taking waste and recycling to shared bins or a designated collection area. This model is more commonly used on industrial estates, with costs included within the lease, rent or service charge.

Shared provision offers several potential benefits:

• reduced costs for workplaces;

• reduced costs for collectors; and

•fewer bins and an improved local environment or street scene.

Shared waste provision may be particularly suitable for small and micro workplaces that produce relatively low volumes of waste, allowing costs to be shared while supporting access to a wider range of recycling collections.