If you run a business in Wales you might well have got a letter from Natural Resources Wales over Christmas – we did.

In short, the letter informed us that Natural Resources Wales will be watching all waste collection contractors to ensure the materials they collect are fit for recycling. Because we have always collected materials separately this is not a big deal for us.

What looks like a get out clause in the legislation – the section that requires recyclable materials to be collected separately whenever “technically, environmentally and economically practicable” has been interpreted by NWR as “… circumstances where separate collection does not appear practicable.”

That is thankfully pretty clear. “Technically” is not an issue these days; “environmentally”, take a look at our final destinations information; “economically”, we are confident we will not be beaten on price; so we are left with “practicable”.

The main argument we come across that makes separating materials less “practicable” is lack of space.  Most business we collect from however, produce a very limited range of waste materials. Offices are dominated by paper; pubs / clubs by glass and food; cardboard by nearly everybody.

If you’re worried about space but already have mixed collection of recyclable materials here’s a little help on space requirements. Bins can be inside or outside (we can chain them together if your worried) and are clearly marked. This is not rocket science.

OK – you’ve ended up reading a blog about bin sizes … even we think this might be viewed as sad … but if you’ve got the space somebody might come and ask why you’re not collecting separately.

360 litre bins = 580mm wide x 875mm deep (basically a large wheelie bin).

660 litre bins = 1360mm wide x 780mm deep (those large flip top bins on 4 wheels). Most popular for cardboard.

Typical set up:

Pub / Club:  glass, plastic, cans, food, cardboard (3.6 metres total length.)

Small manufacturer:  cardboard, plastic + one other (2.5 metres total)

Office: Card (small 360), paper, plastic/cans (1.7 metres total). Note: we can also collect paper in reusable sacks (we supply), giving more flexible options.