Trade recycling and waste collections

Businesses have a legal duty to dispose of waste responsibly - they must use a registered waste carrier to dispose of their waste and have documents to demonstrate the arrangements they have in place for waste disposal.

You have a duty of care to make sure your waste is responsibly removed and disposed of when using a waste carrier. To avoid your waste being illegally fly-tipped, please check that your waste carrier is registered on the Natural Resources Wales website. Best be safe than sorry. If it’s your waste found dumped, then you can be in serious trouble and face prosecution yourself.

Torfaen Council provides a Trade Waste Collections Service. For information, please contact Torfaen Business Direct on 01633 648735 or email businessdirect@torfaen.gov.uk

From 6 April 2024, the Welsh Government’s new Workplace Recycling Regulations will come into force. It will mean all non-domestic premises will need to separate recyclable materials from other waste.

This is to improve the quality and quantity of commercial recyclable waste that is collected and separated across Wales.

Separation requirements

These new rules apply to all businesses and both the public and charitable sectors. You need to make sure each of the following is separated prior to collection:

• food waste produced by premises producing more than 5kg of food waste a week
• paper and card
• glass
• metals cans
• plastic bottles
• cartons and other similar packaging
• unsold small electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) 
• unsold textiles

The occupiers of a property will be responsible for complying with the new workplace recycling regulations.

The regulations will be enforced by Natural Resources Wales and occupiers could face fines of up to £300 for each offence.

Further information can be found on the Welsh Government website.

Torfaen Council trade waste customers can get advice from the team by contacting BusinessRecycling@torfaen.gov.uk