Current Legislation

The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) is a mandatory energy assessment scheme for organisations in the UK that meet the qualification criteria. It requires large companies to report on energy efficiency measures and plan for continuous improvement, submitting ESOS assessments to the regulator. These must be overseen by an ESOS assessor.

See DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) guidance to check if your organisation qualifies.

Source: Government Guidance

New rules on how workplaces in England sort their recycling and waste have now come into force, ending confusion over what goes where and enabling consistent, more streamlined collections.  

The measures as part of the Government’s Simpler Recycling plans will boost flatlining recycling rates, reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill or for incineration, and deliver cost savings for some businesses, while replacing previous legislation which could have required them to have up to six bins.   

From 31 March 2025, workplaces with 10 or more employees will need to arrange for the collection of the following:   

• dry recyclable materials – including plastic, metal, glass, and paper and card  

• food waste   

• residual (non-recyclable) waste
   

Workplaces will need to separate paper and card from the other dry recyclables unless their waste collector collects them together. 

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-rules-simplifying-recycling-for-workplaces-in-england-come-into-force

Organisations who produce or use packaging, or sell packaged goods may be obligated to follow rules to reduce the amount of packaging produced, reduce the amount of packaging going to landfill, and increase the amount of packaging waste that is recycled.  See DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) guidance to check if your organisation qualifies.

Source: Government Guidance

Organisations who produce or use packaging, or sell packaged goods are obligated to follow rules to reduce the amount of packaging produced, reduce the amount of packaging going to landfill, and increase the amount of packaging waste that is recycled.

See DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) guidance to check if your organisation qualifies.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/packaging-producer-responsibilities#check-if-you-are-an-obligated-packaging-producer

Following on from its 2022 investigation into the fashion sector, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced plans to investigate green claims made across the FMCG sector, including food and drink, personal care, and cleaning products. The CMA has noted a significant amount of household products hold green or eco-friendly claims, which may be unsubstantiated. If claims are shown to be unfounded, the CMA may open an investigation into specific brands, as it did with a targeted analysis on Boohoo, ASOS and Asda last year.

Source: https://www.edie.net/cma-to-scrutinise-eco-claims-on-fmcg-in-next-phase-of-greenwashing-clampdown/

The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act came into law from October 2023 and introduces changes to the English planning system, including how powers are devolved to local authorities. The aim of the legislation is to speed up the planning system and encourage the building of new homes. Key changes include the replacement of the Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment regime with the Environmental Outcomes Report, which aims to streamline the assessment process. Section 106 payments will also be replaced with a new Infrastructure Levy. The Act gives Local Plans more weight in planning decisions, indicating that there would need to be strong reasons to override a Local Plan. An update to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) will follow before the Act can fully take effect.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-laws-to-speed-up-planning-build-homes-and-level-up

The ban on single-use plastic items has come into force in England. The ban covers items such as plates, cutlery and certain types of polystyrene food containers and applies to retailers, food vendors, takeaway outlets and hospitality businesses. The ban does not apply to trays and bowls used as packaging in shelf-ready pre-packaged food items, such as salads, as these will be included in the plans for an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme.

Source: Government announcement

Organisations making claims that a product, service, brand or business provides a benefit or is less harmful to the environment must align with the Green Claims Code. This is a set of guidance published by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to avoid greenwashing and misleading customers. Organisations should be careful to consider the full life cycle of products before making claims.

As a follow-on to the CMA’s Green Claims guidance, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has released guidance on the use of carbon neutral and net zero claims in advertising. This reflects research which found a lack of understanding among consumers regarding the meaning of the terms ‘net zero’ and ‘carbon neutral’ but also a high prevalence of these terms, leading to high potential for consumers to be misled. The new CAP guidance sets out steps advertisers should take to ensure they do not use unqualified claims and that claims are clearly explained with a company’s approach – for example, disclosing whether offsets are used.

Source: Government Guidance

From February 2022 it is has been mandatory for publicly quoted companies, large private companies and LLPs to report on their climate-related risk in line with the recommendations of the global Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.

See DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) guidance to check if your organisation qualifies.

Source: Government Guidance

It is mandatory for quoted companies, large unquoted organisations and large limited liability partnerships (LLPs) to disclose environmental performance information through company filings. “Large businesses” are defined as companies exceeding two or more of the following criteria within a financial year; 250+ employees; an annual turnover of £36m, or an annual balance sheet total of £18m.

At a minimum, large unquoted companies and LLPs will be required to report on UK energy use and emissions from gas, electricity, and transport. Unquoted companies must publish global GHG emissions from activities for which the company is responsible and global energy use.

For all three organisation types, figures must be provided the previous year (if applicable), along with at least one intensity ratio or normalisation factor (e.g. CO2e / m2 of floorspace, or per employee), as well as a narrative around measures taken for emission reduction and details of the methodology used.

Source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/850130/Env-reporting-guidance_inc_SECR_31March.pdf