31 March 2025 Guide

Good Practice Guidance on Waste and Recycling Collections

WRAP, supported by Defra, has developed 24 good practice guidance documents to help local authorities deliver quality waste and recycling services to citizens in England. Developed with input from local authority officers, each document provides tailored recommendations that are ready to be implemented. 

The guidance has been produced to support implementation of Defra's Simpler Recycling reforms, which are set out in sections 45A-AZG of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The guidance provides good practice service standards for household and/or commercial waste and recycling collections.  

This guidance is designed to support in the delivery of consistent, high-quality services and help to enable greater participation and public satisfaction in recycling.

Each topic sets out a good practice minimum standard that households could expect to receive but allows Councils the flexibility to go further according to local ambition.

Key highlights

  • 18 out of 24 topics focus on household waste and recycling, offering practical, forward-thinking recommendations.
  • 6 topics dive into business and non-household waste and recycling, offering best practice suggestions for collections from businesses and non-domestic premises.

Whilst the majority of documents are ready to download, we’ll be updating new topic documents during April 2025. 

The topics covered by the guidance are as follows: 

Household waste and recycling topics

Workplace waste and recycling topics