What is dry mixed recycling?
Dry mixed recycling covers four material groups:
- Card and cardboard (including card material, and card packaging)
- Paper (such as newspapers, magazines, junk mail, office paper, and envelopes)
- Dry plastics (such as plastic bottles, containers, pots, tubs, and trays)
- Tin & aluminium metal packaging (such as empty cans)
If you can keep them clean and dry, dry mixed recycling can all go in one bin and is sorted once they reach a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF).
Paper and cardboard already have one of the UK’s highest packaging recycling rates, at 86.4% in 2024, which shows how effective this stream can be.
What can’t go in is anything wet, greasy or contaminated with food or liquid, meaning a soggy pizza box or a leftover coffee cup can actually contaminate a whole load and will be rejected by the collector.
Dry Mixed Recycling Collection
Getting set up with a dry mixed recycling collection service couldn’t be easier. We start with conducting a quick waste audit, where we work out exactly the type of waste materials your business produces and how much. We work with businesses across a wide range of sectors, so we’ll be able to recommend the right bin combination no matter what type of business you have.
Next, we’ll agree on a collection schedule that suits your business, this could be weekly or fortnightly and keep track of how much waste you are producing. Many businesses can see fluctuations in their waste volume, for example, producing more in winter months and less in the summer. As your volume changes, that combination of bins can be adjusted to match it.
Dry Mixed Recycling Disposal
Once all your DMR waste has been collected, we then take it to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) where your recycling is sorted into individual waste streams. Once sorted, each material is sent for reprocessing, turning your waste into new products instead of landfill.
Government figures show that between 64.1% and 75.2% of UK packaging waste was recycled in 2024, and it’s our goal to help raise that percentage every year. And we’d love your help to do it!
Dry Mixed Recycling Regulations
In 2025, the government created new legislation that aims to reshape UK business recycling. It’s called Simpler Recycling, and if your business has 10 or more full-time equivalent employees, you must separate dry recyclables such as plastic, metal, paper and card from your general waste. Micro-firms with fewer than 10 FTE employees have until 31 March 2027 to comply.
It’s worth noting that paper and card should usually be collected separately from your other dry recyclables, unless your waste collector has completed a co-collection assessment to confirm whether they can be collected together. With Waste Managed, we’ll confirm whether that applies to your DMR service when we set you up.
As with any waste your business produces, you have a legal Duty of Care from the moment it’s created to its final disposal. Every collection also needs to come with a Waste Transfer Note as proof of where your waste went and how it was handled. Again, while this seems like a lot to consider, when you take out a waste management plan with us, we take care of all of this paperwork as part of your DMR service, so you don’t have to worry about managing it yourself.
What Our Experts Say
Dry mixed recycling is one of the easiest waste streams to manage, and it contributes massively to recycling efforts each year in the UK. However, what people tend to forget is to make sure their recycling is dry and clean before it’s recycled. If it isn’t, it can hamper not only your recycling efforts, but entire loads, meaning larger amounts of waste aren’t able to be recycled and disposed of effectively. As a result, we always stress the importance of this to all our customers, so we can do everything we can to efficiently recycle your dry mixed recycling into eco-friendly streams.
Steve Traviss – Procurement Director
Waste Managed Are Experts In Dry Mixed Recycling Management
Waste Managed has spent more than 15 years helping UK businesses get their recycling right, now supporting over 40,000 customers up and down the country!
We’re also committed to reducing the environmental impact of the waste we collect. We’ve partnered with Just One Tree, a non-profit working on global reforestation, and as of June 2026, we’ve planted more than 9000 trees through that partnership.
When you choose Waste Managed for your dry mixed recycling, you’re helping to cut landfill waste and support a wider sustainability goal at the same time.
Find out more about why businesses choose us or get a quote to get started.
