In the UK, commercial waste is collected either by a national or local contractor, by the local authority, where they offer such a service, or in-house, using the business’ own vehicles; in some cases, commercial waste may be taken, often illegally, to household waste recycling centres (Maynard and Cherrett, 2010). The frequency of collection depends on the size of the business, with the largest typically receiving daily collections and the smallest often requiring one collection each week; an average of 2.4 collections per week was estimated in a study of 83 businesses in the city of Winchester, UK (Maynard and Cherrett, 2010). The typical collection arrangements for commercial recyclable waste and residual waste from a survey of businesses on Winchester High Street are shown (Figure 1).
Summary of waste management systems used by businesses on Winchester High Street (Source: Maynard and Cherrett, 2010)