“Zero landfill” is now on a lot of office clearance quotes. It’s a good aim, but it’s used loosely, and it’s not always clear what’s been promised. If your business needs to report on its waste, for ESG reporting, a tender or a sustainability policy, you need to know what the claim means and how to check it.
This guide explains what zero landfill should mean, what it doesn’t mean, where office clearance waste actually goes, and the questions and paperwork that let you verify it. To plan a clearance with us, see our sustainable office clearance service.
What “zero landfill” should mean
Across the waste industry, zero landfill is generally taken to mean that no material from your clearance is sent to landfill. Anything that can’t be reused or recycled goes to energy recovery instead.
That’s a real improvement on a skip that goes straight to landfill. But it’s a claim about where the waste goes, and it should come with evidence.
What it doesn’t mean
- It doesn’t mean no waste was produced. Any supplier implying that is overstating it.
- It doesn’t mean everything is recycled. Energy recovery counts as diverted from landfill, but not as recycled. Reuse and incineration aren’t equivalent achievements.
- It isn’t a guarantee you should accept before a survey. No honest supplier can promise an absolute zero-landfill result before seeing a site. We don’t. What we commit to is applying the waste hierarchy in order and reporting the actual result, including anything that did go to disposal.
Definitions vary between providers, so ask how a provider defines it, and whether that definition covers what happens to residues after energy recovery.
Where office clearance waste actually goes
The waste hierarchy sets the order of preference: prevention, preparing for reuse, recycling, other recovery (such as energy recovery), and only then disposal. In England and Wales, the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 require businesses that produce or handle waste to take reasonable measures to apply it as a priority order when waste is transferred. In Scotland, the duty of care code says you must take all reasonable steps to apply the hierarchy as a priority order. A good clearance follows it.
Sorting on site is what makes this possible. Once waste streams are mixed, they’re rarely separated again.
Reuse and resale
The best outcome for furniture and IT. Good desks, chairs and storage can be redeployed to your other sites, resold, or donated to charities and social enterprises. Working IT can be reused after certified data destruction. Reuse avoids the need for a replacement to be made at all. See our furniture reuse service.
Recycling
What can’t be reused is broken down into materials: steel frames and glass from damaged furniture, wood, plastics, card and other packaging. Discarded electrical items are waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), which government guidance lists as waste needing particular treatment or handling, so it should go to a facility authorised to take it. Confidential paper should be securely shredded and then recycled, never put in general waste.
Energy recovery
Packaging that can’t be recycled, and genuine residual waste, goes to energy recovery rather than landfill. Landfill should be the last resort, and reported as such if it’s used.
How to check the claim
Ask for the breakdown by route
Before you book, ask the provider how they expect your waste to split between reuse, recycling and energy recovery, and how they’ll report the actual split afterwards. Many high diversion figures count recycling and energy recovery together, so ask for the two separately rather than one combined figure. A provider who can’t describe their routes can’t really promise zero landfill.
Ask where each stream goes
You don’t need every address, but you should know what kind of facility each stream goes to and whether it’s permitted to accept that waste. Your duty of care includes checking that the waste’s destination is authorised. Ask whether the provider uses those facilities directly or through a broker: using a broker doesn’t remove your own duty of care.
Ask for the paperwork
At the end you should receive:
- Waste transfer notes for each load, describing the waste that actually left the site, the carrier and where it changed hands. See our guide to waste transfer notes.
- Hazardous waste paperwork for any hazardous items. Government examples of hazardous waste include batteries, chemicals such as print toner, and equipment containing ozone-depleting substances, like fridges. In England and Wales this moves on a consignment note; in Scotland it’s called special waste and moves on a special waste consignment note. See our guide to hazardous waste consignment notes.
- A data destruction certificate for any data-bearing IT, kept separately from the waste paperwork.
- A clearance report showing tonnage by stream and the route each stream took: reused, recycled, recovered or disposed of.
Check that the carrier is registered with the right regulator: the Environment Agency in England, Natural Resources Wales in Wales, or SEPA in Scotland, each of which keeps a public register. Keep the registration number. Then check that the quantities on the report broadly match what was taken away.
Reporting for ESG
If the figure is going into an ESG disclosure, the evidence matters more than the number. A figure with no breakdown behind it can’t be checked and shouldn’t be relied on in a sustainability report. Agree the format before the clearance:
- The units you need (weight, item counts, or both). Tonnage by stream is more useful than a single percentage.
- Whether you need reuse reported separately from recycling.
- Whether you want an estimate of emissions avoided, and how it’s calculated. If you use such figures, make sure the method is stated.
On our decommissioning projects, the post-project report records where items went, weight diverted by stream, what was rehomed through reuse or donation and any value recovered, with the waste transfer and destruction paperwork attached.
Questions to ask a clearance provider
- How do you define zero landfill, and do you guarantee it?
- How do you expect my clearance to split between reuse, recycling, energy recovery and disposal, and can you show me a past report with client details removed?
- Which kinds of facility do you use for each stream, and are they permitted?
- Who carries the waste, and what’s their waste carrier registration number?
- What paperwork will I get, and when?
- How do you handle data-bearing equipment?
- What happens to items that turn out to be hazardous?
Clearance as part of a bigger exit
A clearance is often one stage of leaving an office. For the full sequence, from inventory to handback, see our office decommissioning checklist and our zero-landfill decommissioning service.
To plan your clearance: office clearances · contact Continuum Green
Frequently asked questions
Does zero landfill mean everything is recycled?
No. It normally means nothing is sent to landfill: waste is reused, recycled or sent to energy recovery. Energy recovery counts as diverted, not as recycled, so ask for the split.
What proof should we get after a zero-landfill clearance?
Waste transfer notes for each load, any hazardous waste paperwork, a data destruction certificate for IT, and a report showing tonnage by stream and how much was reused, recycled, recovered or disposed of.
Last reviewed: 22 October 2026.