Commercial waste Edinburgh
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The City of Edinburgh Council doesn’t provide commercial waste collection, including recycling services. Yet, Edinburgh businesses are required by law to maximise recycling efforts.
Our experts have crafted this Commercial Waste in Edinburgh guide to assist you.
First, here’s a look at some of Edinburgh’s top commercial waste collection services.
Edinburgh businesses support commercial glass recycling efforts through licensed private waste providers. These providers help businesses comply with Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan, which mandates that all glass be separated and recycled.
The Millerhill Anaerobic Digestion Plant efficiently manages Edinburgh’s commercial food waste. This facility processes around 30,000 tonnes of food waste annually from local businesses and households, converting it into renewable electricity for approximately 3,300 homes and producing nutrient-rich biofertilisers.
Edinburgh, the first UNESCO City of Literature and host of the Edinburgh International Book Festival showcases the benefits of commercial cardboard recycling through its bookstores, which generate large volumes of cardboard waste from inventory deliveries.
Businesses in The Exchange District of Edinburgh rely on specialised providers for confidential waste disposal. These providers offer secure collection, shredding, and certified destruction of sensitive documents, ensuring data protection and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
Edinburgh’s healthcare industry, including prominent hospitals like the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, relies on specialised hazardous waste disposal providers. These providers offer secure collection, treatment, and certified medical and clinical waste destruction, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
Edinburgh businesses must use a private commercial recycling provider for their recycling services. These providers offer recycling solutions, including collecting, sorting, and processing various recyclable materials such as paper, cardboard, plastics, metals, and dry mixed recycling.
In the vibrant city of Edinburgh, managing business waste efficiently is crucial.
With numerous companies vying for your attention, choosing the right waste collection service can be daunting.
Our experts have identified these reliable providers to meet your business’s commercial waste needs:
The Dunedin Recycling Group provides a 7-day-a-week collection service available to any business within 15 miles of Edinburgh’s city centre. Dunedin Recycling is headquartered in Edinburgh; they offer a commercial waste audit to all new customers to properly assess opportunities to maximise recycling.
Hamilton Waste is one of the largest independent waste management companies in Scotland, with over 110 employees offering commercial waste services across the East Lothian area. Hamilton Waste operate their materials recycling centre on the Wallyford Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
The NWH Group is a leading recycling and waste management business serving Scotland and the North East of England. NWH is headquartered in Mayfield, a few miles South of Edinburgh. Their regular trade services encompass dry mixed recycling, cardboard, glass and commercial food waste collection.
Wasteworx is a trade waste specialist providing commercial waste disposal services across Edinburgh, Midlothian and the Borders. Wasteworx focuses on providing a positive customer experience with their bespoke waste management service that enables them to work across a wide range of sectors.
Progressive Waste provides comprehensive commercial waste and recycling services to a large range of businesses across Edinburgh and the Lothians. The Progress Waste Solutions fleet of vehicles operates out of their facility in Bonnyrigg, providing a flexible 7-day-a-week collection service.
Biffa, one of the UK’s leading commercial waste providers, offers a dependable waste collection service in the City of Edinburgh and throughout Scotland. Its Edinburgh operations are based along the River Forth in Granton, with recycling processes and separation occurring at a material recovery centre near Edinburgh Airport in Broxburn.
Veolia can provide a broad range of recycling services that cater to specific needs such as commercial hazardous waste and battery recycling.
Beyond its waste collection services, Veolia also operates Scotland’s largest wastewater treatment plant in Leith. This facility features an anaerobic digester that produces renewable gas, which is then utilised to generate renewable electricity for the City of Edinburgh.
Enva’s commercial waste collections for Edinburgh’s businesses are conducted from their facility on the Newbridge Industrial Estate, located west of the city.
Committed to promoting closed-loop recycling solutions, Enva ensures that waste materials are either recovered as secondary resources or utilised to produce new products.
Small businesses may choose to transport their own waste to local commercial recycling centres. To do this, you will need a waste carrier licence.
Our experts provide all the necessary information to help you dispose of commercial waste in Edinburgh.
The City of Edinburgh Council operates public recycling centres at Seafield, Craigmillar, and Sighthill; however, businesses are strictly prohibited from utilising these facilities.
Source: Edinburgh City Council
As an alternative, below is a private waste transfer station accessible to businesses in the vicinity of Edinburgh:
NHW Group at Leith – 2 Albert Road, Edinburgh, EH6 7DP
Additionally, located 20 miles south of Edinburgh in Peebles, the Scottish Borders Council offers trade waste services at their site:
Scottish Borders – Innerleithen Road, Eshiels, Peebles, EH45 8NA
The waste transfer stations listed above will issue a Waste Transfer Note for any business waste you dispose of, ensuring your company can demonstrate compliance with commercial waste regulations.
Edinburgh boasts a diverse business landscape and is a major hub for the finance and technology sectors. At the same time, the city attracts millions of visitors annually, supporting a huge tourism sector.
We highlight the waste management services available for some of Edinburgh’s most important industries.
Edinburgh’s restaurant scene offers a rich tapestry of cuisines. The best restaurants use locally sourced ingredients from the surrounding fertile farmland and the North Sea.
Edinburgh’s restaurants must manage general business waste, mixed recycling, and food collections. We can help local restaurants find commercial waste services encompassing all three types of collections. Request quotes today by entering your restaurant postcode above.
Edinburgh is the home of huge annual events like the Edinburgh Festival and Edinburgh Marathon, each attracting thousands of visitors flying in through Edinburgh airport.
Event waste management is a particular challenge, as there is a need to temporarily place waste and recycling facilities. Edinburgh’s event organisers partner with event waste management specialists to handle this important logistical challenge.
The city of Edinburgh has nearly 400 pubs, some of which, like the Sheep Heid Inn, have existed for hundreds of years.
Edinburgh’s pubs are prohibited from leaving commercial glass waste bins on Edinburgh’s kerbs, meaning storing this waste within the pub premises is necessary.
To avoid this key waste stream taking up too much space, Edinburgh’s pubs arrange weekly waste collection with Edinburgh’s trusted waste providers.
The University of Edinburgh, one of Scotland’s four ancient universities founded in the sixteenth century, exemplifies how a large institution can develop and implement an ambitious waste management strategy.
The University’s waste management strategy is designed to achieve zero-waste status by incorporating principles of the circular economy. It prioritises waste prevention, reuse, and recycling, laying a solid foundation for environmental stewardship and resource efficiency.
At the heart of this strategy is the objective to integrate circular economy thinking into the University’s culture, striving to maintain materials and products in use for as long as possible. This effort is supported by the #ZeroWasteUoE campaign, which encourages the University community to participate in waste reduction initiatives.
A notable initiative under this strategy is the establishment of TerraCycle recycling points at the University’s George Square campus, aimed at collecting hard-to-recycle items such as crisp packets.
Through focused, practical implementation and active community engagement, the University of Edinburgh demonstrates a comprehensive and forward-thinking approach to waste management.