Nursery Waste Management

Nurseries produce a wide range of waste materials, so it’s key to have processes in place to store, remove, and dispose of each type appropriately. Get started with a waste audit to review the types and volumes of waste your nursery creates and how it’s currently managed.

One of our professional experts will assess all the waste your nursery generates and create an effective plan. This includes advising on the best types, sizes, and number of bins to use, where to place them, and a cost-effective yet efficient collection frequency and schedule. Regular and reliable daily, weekly, or fortnightly waste collections are available.

We can provide free bins for your nursery with no delivery or hire fees – you only pay for collection. Licensed waste carriers then remove your waste on a convenient day and time and transport it to an appropriate waste management facility for disposal away from landfill.

Safe disposal of waste in a nursery protects children and staff from any risks of exposure to offensive or harmful materials. Proper waste disposal within a nursery means separating waste by materials and putting them in the relevant and dedicated bin. For example, putting used nappies in a nappy or sanitary waste bin and leftover food in a specific food waste bin.

This should ensure the waste is segregated to avoid contamination and then transported to an appropriate waste management facility and disposed of properly (rather than going to landfill). The methods of disposal for nursery waste depend on the specific material. Following the waste hierarchy to reuse, recycle, and recover waste in that order is important.

At Business Waste, we dispose of all waste from nurseries away from landfill. This helps protect the environment and saves your nursery money on waste management costs as you’ll pay no or less landfill tax. These are some common methods of nursery waste disposal for different materials:

• Recycling – the likes of glass, packaging, textiles, cardboard, paper, metal, plastic, and dry mixed recycling are checked, sorted, and recycled at recycling facilities and turned into new materials.
• Shredding – confidential waste is shredded to reduce the risk of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands. This shredded paper may then be recycled or composted.
• Composting – lots of waste food is disposed of at industrial composting sites where it’s mixed into huge compost heaps that are turned regularly. It decomposes and forms a natural topsoil or fertiliser.
• Anaerobic digestion – the other main disposal method for food waste from nurseries is anaerobic digestion. At an anaerobic digestion plant, waste food is used to generate energy as it decomposes in a controlled tank without oxygen to produce biogas and fertiliser.
• Incineration – potentially infectious, offensive, and harmful waste, such as sanitary, clinical, and pharmaceutical waste, is often incinerated for safety purposes.
• Treatment – some clinical and hazardous waste types might be treated via physical or chemical processes to render them safe before recycling, reuse, or recovery.

Various laws and regulations cover waste management in the UK that apply to nurseries. At Business Waste, we ensure all rubbish from your nursery is removed by licensed waste carriers and disposed of at authorised facilities. We can also assess and advise on your operations to ensure they’re compliant with the relevant regulations.

These are the main laws and regulations that cover waste management and what they require that nursery owners should familiarise themselves with:

• Environmental Protection Act 1990 – this places a duty of care on waste producers (such as nurseries) to ensure their waste is managed responsibly. That includes only using authorised waste carriers and ensuring waste is disposed of at authorised sites to prevent illegal dumping. Use licensed waste carriers and get a waste transfer note/duty of care certificate for compliance.
• Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 – these regulations establish the waste hierarchy that nurseries should follow. This means taking steps to prevent, reuse, recycle, recover, and dispose of waste in that order. Nurseries should take steps to eliminate and minimise waste, then focus on recycling and recovery before disposal.

Reducing waste at the source helps nurseries operate sustainably and save on waste management costs. It also aligns with the waste hierarchy. There are many actions you can take to minimise waste production within your nursery across different areas.

Consider these ideas to reduce your nursery waste:

• Switch suppliers – choose products with less or zero packaging (or that’s recyclable/biodegradable). This includes any food items, craft supplies, furnishings, and any other items you regularly order.
• Create compost piles – if your nursery has a garden or outdoor space, consider adding a compost bin for food waste. This reduces how much waste food you need collecting and the associated costs. Plus, it can teach children about the importance of composting early on.
• Bulk buy – a great way to cut down on packaging waste is to purchase items like paper towels, nappies, and food in bulk.
• Go paperless – switch from physical letters to parents and record keeping to online and digital alternatives such as emails and secure digital storage. This reduces paper and confidential waste in your nursery.
• Reuse items – there are many things you can reuse in nurseries, such as food containers, plates and cups, and scrap paper for crafts and activities. Even damaged clothing and furnishings can be reused as cleaning cloths in some cases.