The UK’s waste streams are beginning to change, and forward-thinking organisations have already begun to adapt.
After years of deliberation, concrete policy changes are taking effect. Materials Facility (MF) Regulations, Simpler Recycling and the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) are increasing sampling requirements and altering infeed composition, forcing facility leaders to think seriously about protecting margins.
Organisations like Biffa and FCC Environment aren’t waiting to find out how a shifting policy landscape will impact their bottom line. Instead, they’re using data to adapt.
Learn how their teams automated critical compliance reporting processes – and future-proofed against a changing regulatory landscape – in a few simple steps:
Biffa and FCC have responded to regulation with innovation, becoming some of the first waste organisations in the UK to submit AI-derived waste composition data on outbound material streams directly to the Environment Agency (EA), as part of their existing compliance reporting. Their recent work with Greyparrot has focused specifically on how AI‑supported sampling can be applied to selected outbound products as part of compliance reporting.
That process began in 2024, when the Environment Agency (EA) announced its new sampling requirements, and updated their guidance on the use of AI to automate reporting:
There are no restrictions to the use of visual detection and recognition technology for MF sampling, including artificial intelligence technology.
However, it will remain the responsibility of MF operators to measure, record and be able to demonstrate to the regulator how their sampling methodology meets the regulations and produces representative sampling results, whatever technology is in use.”
With the responsibility placed on facilities to prove that AI sampling was accurate enough, we helped both organisations take advantage of the automation opportunity without risking non-compliance:
Rather than periodic manual samples in outbound material streams, the system generates continuous, shift-by-shift compositional data that can be used to inform and support reporting activities. FCC Environment's Senior Technical Manager Pedro Faraldo Garcia, explains the impact of that continuous data:
At FCC Environment we’re continuously exploring how digital and AI‑enabled tools can help us optimise the way our facilities operate and respond to increasing data and reporting demands. Greyparrot Analyzer units have been running on our lines for some time and, combined with a robust methodology, using that data to support our Q1 mixed plastics submission to the Environment Agency was a logical next step.
Access to continuous compositional data helps our teams focus on operational performance, with compliance being one of several areas where these tools can add real value "
Success at two leading facilities has resulted in an automated sampling methodology that our team can adapt to any facility with Analyzer units installed on relevant lines.
Facilities are responsible for the integrity of their EA reporting, and AI waste analysis offers confidence as requirements grow, and waste volumes increase. Automated sampling doesn’t just match manual sampling accuracy – it outperforms it at scale.
Beyond EA reporting, the UK recycling policy landscape is evolving quickly – with major operational implications for MRFs.
The expansion of England's Simpler Recycling scheme in March 2026 brings household waste in scope. The mandated separation of food waste from other mixed recyclables (including plastics, cartons, fibre and metals) may reduce food contamination in recycling streams, but will also alter material composition and increase the overall volume of mixed material that facilities are expected to process.
Looking ahead to 2027, the inclusion of flexible plastics and cartons made of a fibre-based composite (such as Tetra Pak) will introduce new materials that MRFs must be prepared to capture and sort efficiently.
While Simpler Recycling is set to introduce new materials at higher volumes, the launch of the UK’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) on drinks containers in October 2027 is expected to remove high-value objects from MRF streams. Diverting food-grade PET bottles and metal cans from kerbside collections will threaten revenue for MRF operators unable to reprioritise target objects.
Facilities will need to model these changes early, and consider shifting focus toward other recyclable streams like PET trays or non-beverage PET bottles.
These changes come while operators are still adapting to 2024’s MF Regulations update, which introduced more detailed and frequent reporting standards. Together with rising operational costs, the demand for improved sampling has fuelled interest in automating monitoring with AI.
For Biffa's Head of PRFs Ian McSpirit, streamlined data collection allows his team to adapt faster as the shift to circularity accelerates:
By combining AI-driven insights with the expertise of our operations teams and technology partners, we can focus more on improving material quality, increasing recycling performance and staying ahead of evolving regulation.
Access to reliable, real-time data is helping move the industry from reactive processes to smarter, data-driven action, an essential shift if we want to accelerate the circular economy at scale.”
Ultimately, new regulation has only accelerated the sector’s embrace of AI waste analytics. Without continuous data on material inputs, it’s impossible to predict the impact of policy change on your facility.
Beyond EA reporting, continuous data will also help facilities like Biffa's and FCC's remain flexible and profitable in an evolving regulatory environment. While some MRFs see margins shrink as waste streams change, facilities like Biffa's and FCC Environment's are gathering data that may help them respond faster to changes in waste composition caused by upcoming regulatory changes.
Our CEO Mikela Druckman spoke about this milestone process evolution:
The UK is leading the way in what’s possible with continuous waste monitoring. This is a landmark first step towards automating compliance reporting.
Operators like Biffa and FCC Environment are setting the standard for how technology can transform the way facilities operate – one I believe the rest of the world will look to.”
Learn how to automate compliance reporting at your facility – download our guide here.