FOI release

Freedom of Information request - Commercial Waste Recycling & Contamination

Case reference FOI2026/00553

Received 26 April 2026

Published 18 May 2026

Request

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding commercial waste collection, bin standardisation, and contamination rates within your council.

Please provide the following data, if held, for the following calendar years:

• 1st April 2024 - 31st March 2025

• 1st April 2025 – 31st March 2026

1. The current standard bin colours used by the council for commercial and business waste collections for general waste, dry mixed recycling, paper and cardboard, glass, food waste.

2. The total tonnage of commercial/business recycling collected.

3. The total tonnage of commercial/business recycling that was rejected or sent to landfill/EfW (Energy from Waste) due to contamination.

4. The number of commercial/business waste collections refused (i.e. the bin was not emptied) by the collection crew due to bin contamination.

5. The number of formal warnings, fines, or Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued to businesses for failing to correctly separate waste or for bin contamination.

Response

Standard bin colours used for commercial and business waste collections

The Council uses the following standard container arrangements for commercial waste collections:

  • General waste: Black

  • Dry mixed recycling: Green

  • Paper and cardboard: Green internal caddy

  • Glass: Green

  • Food waste: Small caddy

 

Total tonnage of commercial/business recycling collected

  • 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025: 263 tonnes

  • 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026: 296 tonnes

 

Total tonnage rejected or sent to landfill/energy recovery due to contamination

  • 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025: Information not held

  • 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026: Information not held

 

Percentage of commercial/business waste collections refused due to contamination

  • 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025: 4%

  • 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026: 4%

 

Number of formal warnings, fines, or Fixed Penalty Notices issued to businesses for failing to correctly separate waste or for bin contamination

  • 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025: None issued

  • 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026: 46

Where information is stated as “not held”, this means the Council does not record the data in the specific format requested or does not separate commercial waste data from wider operational datasets in a way that would enable the requested breakdown to be provided.

Documents

There are no documents for this release.

This is South Derbyshire District Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.

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