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No. 1 for Food Waste Recycling
Food Waste Collection
Food waste is an ongoing problem that has a huge effect on our planet. For businesses especially, efficient food waste management and disposal can reduce your carbon footprint and save money at the same time. Regular and reliable food waste collections are vital to maintain high hygiene standards too.
From restaurants generating lots of waste food every day, to offices that may only have leftover lunch or canteen scraps, arrange commercial food waste collection whatever the type and size of your business. Flexible food waste collections tailored to your needs offer a cost-effective and sustainable solution.
At Business Waste, we can collect all types of food waste anywhere across the UK. We provide free food waste bins to make your food waste management affordable – you just pay for collection with our simple food waste solutions. Contact us today or call 0800 211 8390 for a quick and free quote for commercial food waste disposal.
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Get a fast FREE quote for your food waste collection
- Free quote within 1 hr
- Any type of food waste
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- We cover all of the UK
Contents
Food waste
recycling
Food waste can be recycled in two different forms – through composting or anaerobic digestion (AD) waste management. AD waste management refers to a process where food products are broken down due to the absence of light and oxygen.
To arrange food waste collection for your business, simply work out how many food waste bins you need, what size, and how often you need them collecting. We’ll deliver them for free, so you simply fill them up and place in the agreed location and time, just pay for collection.
Ensure you remain within the weight limits of your food waste bins and our drivers will collect your waste and transport it to a relevant recycling plant. How your waste food is disposed of will depend on the type of food waste and available facilities near you.
Sort out food waste collection near you that works for your business today. If you have any questions, simply call 0800 211 8390 to speak to one of our exert team or get in touch online for a quote or quick answer.
Food waste bins
Under Food Standards Agency (FSA) rules, waste food must be disposed of in a food waste bin that’s durable, sealable, easy to clean, and colour coded. Using specific food waste bins helps avoid pests, cross-contamination with active food preparation areas, and spillages. Find the right food waste bin with Business Waste.
We can supply the best types and sizes of food waste bins or a single food waste container to make sure you comply with the regulations. Combine appropriate bin sizes with a collection schedule that aligns with your operations for efficient and cost-effective food waste collections. This could be daily removals of a small food waste bin or weekly collections of a larger one.
Our wide range of food bins available in the UK range in size from 120 litres to a larger 240-litre wheelie bin. These food waste bins are all compliant with FSA regulations and free – you only pay for the collection. Save money with no delivery or rental charges for any size food waste container.
Find the right commercial food waste bin for you.
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Small food waste bin
A small food waste bin with two wheels
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240L food waste bin
The largest food waste bin with an 80kg weight limit
Food waste disposal
Who needs
food waste disposal?
Almost all businesses produce some level of food waste, but it’s more of an issue for those working in catering, hospitality, and the food industry itself. If you only have small amounts of food waste – like leftover scraps in an office kitchen – it can make more sense to include in your general waste.
Some of the main businesses that require commercial food waste collection include:
- Bakery – waste ingredients and by products from production
- Catering – excess food and out of date items
- Hotels – kitchen food waste and leftovers from customers
- Pubs and clubs – waste food from food production and clientele
- Restaurants – leftover food from customers and meal prep
- Takeaways – out of date products and excess food
How does food
waste collection work?
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Select your free bins
It’s quick and easy to organise commercial waste collection for your business.
Simply start by telling us the:
- Type of waste you need removing
- Size of bins you require
- Number of bins you want
We’ll provide you with a free quote.
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Arrange delivery
When you’re happy with the type, number, and size of free bins, tell us when you need your bins delivering.
Let us know about any access issues where you want the bins delivering – such as locked gates, access codes and times. We’ll get you up and running in no time.
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Fill up your bin
After the free bins arrive at your chosen location, fill them up with the agreed waste type.
Make sure you remain within any weight limits for the specific waste type and bin size.
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Get your business waste collected
We’ll arrange waste collection at a time and frequency to suit you and the amount of waste you have.
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What is
food waste?
Food waste is any lost or uneaten food that occurs at any stage of the food production chain. This could be unusable by-products and offcuts during the production of a food type, damaged goods due to transportation that become unsellable or simply food sold but not consumed in a restaurant or shop.
Some waste food may seem unavoidable. At home you might throw away fruit peel and tea bags as they’re inedible, but there are ways of reducing food waste. It may not seem much at home, but for businesses, knowing what to do with food waste of all types so it’s disposed of in an environmentally friendly way is essential.
What are the different
types of food waste?
There are four main types of food waste:
- Solid and liquid food by products from agriculture, manufacturing or food and drink processing.
- Unsellable, out of date food from shops and supermarkets.
- Leftover food from restaurants and food preparation.
- Bakery and packaged food waste.
The exact types of waste food include thousands of different items that fall into these four main categories.
There are four main types of food waste
As an example, these are some of the most common types of food waste you can put in a food waste bin and arrange collection for reuse rather than going to landfill:
- Meat and fish – both raw and cooked
- Vegetables and fruit – both raw and cooked
- Dairy products – including cheese and eggs
- Bakery products – bread, cakes, and pastries
- Rice, pasta, and beans
- Tea bags, leaves, and coffee grounds
You cannot put the following items into a food waste bin:
- Liquids – milk, water and more may leak
- Food packaging
- Nappies and non-food products
How to dispose of
food waste
Businesses must remove food waste from areas where fresh food is present as quickly as possible to avoid cross-contamination. Then you need to dispose of this waste food in containers you can seal shut. They must be made from appropriately robust material, kept in good condition, easy to clean and disinfect.
For effective food waste management you must also have adequate facilities to store and dispose of food waste, as well as other rubbish. Waste stores need to be well designed and managed to keep them clean and free from animals and pests. Arrange for food waste bins of the size you need that fit in this space and meet your needs to be delivered through Business Waste.
To dispose of your food waste, simply fill these bins in a hygienic and environmentally friendly way, in accordance with your local authority’s rules about the way certain types of food waste must be collected and disposed. Agree on a time and frequency for commercial food waste collection and we’ll collect your waste for disposal by one of the methods detailed in the next section.
Enforced by your local food inspectors, there must also be no signs of contamination from waste to food preparation. The best way to dispose of food waste can depend on the kind of waste food. For example, if you have lots of waste fruit and vegetables, it can be cheap and easy to compost if you have the facilities.
Where does
food waste go?
However carefully you prepare and serve food – and whatever the setting, occasion, or location – there will always be food waste. Disposing of food waste in a sustainable and hygienic manner can be problematic if businesses are unsure of the choices available. There are four main methods to dispose of food safely – composting, pump and vacuum systems, food waste dewatering systems, and anaerobic digestion.
Discover more about how each method for disposing of food waste works:
- Composting – this is a highly sustainable method where the waste food decomposes naturally into a fertiliser for food and other crops. You can use a compost bin at work or home if you have space or arrange for collection where the likes of waste fruit and vegetables go to specific composting facilities.
- Pump and vacuum systems – old food, peel, bones, and more prevent commercial kitchens remaining immaculate. Pump and vacuum systems efficiently remove such food debris into a sealed container. Kitchen workers place such waste food into the system, which pumps it through to the collection tank.
- Food waste dewatering systems – removing water from food waste reduces its bulk and weight. With a food waste dewatering system, food is ground up and fed through a long tube that retains solid food but removes water. The food waste that comes out are small and light, making them easier to transport, while the water can be purified and reused.
- Anaerobic digestion – anaerobic digestors sort and shred waste food and add a little water. It’s then warmed to encourage anaerobic bacteria growth and left so the bacteria breaks down the food articles. This produces methane biogas, which is used like natural gas to generate heat, electricity, and more, while it also produces fertiliser to help crops grow.
Steps to reduce
food waste
Reducing food waste should be a priority for all businesses and individuals. There are many things you can do to ensure strong food waste management in your organisation. Follow these five steps to reduce food waste in your business and at home:
- Buy smart. Only purchase the necessary number of products for yourself/your business. Although customer consumption can be difficult to manage, try and keep track of what products sell and when, and purchase accordingly. Buying just what you need can help reduce food waste significantly.
- Check use-by dates before you buy. When purchasing fresh food, check the use-by dates to ensure you have enough time to use them. Remember, best before dates are only a guideline – it’s about quality, not safety. Most food past its use-by date will still be safe to eat, it just might not be at its best.
- Donate your leftovers. If you have any waste food leftover at the end of the working day that won’t keep, consider donating it. There are many food banks and charities that happily take donations. If you still need to earn money from the produce, some eco-conscious individuals will purchase products directly from businesses to help minimise food waste.
- Freeze food. Plenty of fresh products, including fruit and veg, can be frozen after purchase. Freezing products, especially when purchased in large quantities, can help reduce food waste as they last for much longer.
- Compost and recycle. In some cases, food waste is inevitable. When this is the case try to dispose of it properly by composting or sending to a recycling plant where it can go to an anaerobic digestor.
Benefits of
food waste recycling
Recycling food waste introduces many benefits for both your business and our planet. With proper disposal of food waste, you play your part in helping protect the environment for future generations. When waste food goes to landfill it releases methane that adds to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Reducing and even avoiding sending food waste to landfill significantly cuts your carbon footprint.
It also saves your company money, as sending less waste food to landfill helps cut down the amount of landfill tax you have to pay. Food waste recycling rather than throwing it in with general waste helps generate renewable energy when it goes to a specialist anaerobic digestion plant too.
As a business you have both a legal and corporate responsibility to dispose of food waste safely. Recycling food waste ensures you both meet your legal obligations and enhance your business’ reputation by appealing to your customers – as many want to shop in an eco-friendly way. Furthermore, minimising food waste can help solve issues with overproduction.
Food waste
facts
Food waste statistics vary by country, but according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on a global scale around one third of food is wasted or lost every year – 1.3 billion tonnes in total. Food waste facts from around the world highlight that fruit and vegetables, roots and tubers have the highest wastage rates.
How much food waste the UK generates also changes each year. Government food waste statistics show that we produce around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste in the UK annually. However, only 1.8 million of this waste food is recycled – meaning more than seven million tonnes of UK food waste goes to landfill.
Around 70% of the total food waste in the UK was intended to be eaten, while the other 30% were ‘inedible parts’. UNEP also found that around the world 17% of food goes straight to the bin that’s on sale to consumers. Sadly, that means a lot of wasted energy and fruitless efforts to produce and transport food that’s unused.
Around one third of food is wasted or lost every year – 1.3 billion tonnes in total
Read our reviews
Sent an enquiry through the website and the phone rang immediately! Spoke to Sophie Waters and she had an immediate solution to our need to dispose of a large amount of out of date food and the containers they were in, everything was super clear and easy.C Wilson
Food waste
FAQs
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Why is food waste bad for the environment?
The environmental impact of food waste is widespread and massive, with dangerous implications moving forward. The food industry makes a huge contribution to global pollution – food storage, production, cooking, and distribution releases a large amount of greenhouse gasses. Once food is purchased, we have an extra responsibility to ensure it doesn’t go to waste.
Food waste is typically sent to landfill, where it will rot away. However, rotten food and waste produce methane – a large contributor to yet more greenhouse gasses. Greenhouse gas emission is partly to blame for the destruction of our ozone layer.
Therefore, not only is food waste socially irresponsible (when we consider the number of people in the world who go without regular meals and food), but also incredibly harmful to the environment.
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How we can stop wasting food?
The most vital tool to help limit food waste is education. Many people are simply misinformed about the dangers and implications of large-scale food waste. In recent years the general public has become increasingly aware of the values of recycling (with nearly every home now having a recycling bin), food waste seems to have been left out of the conversation.
Therefore, it’s important that we find a way to convey this message to the general public, particularly business owners with lots of surplus products or ingredients. For other ways to reduce food waste, see the above list with some top tips you can apply to your everyday routine.
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Why is food waste a problem?
Food waste is a problem as it’s continually harming our environment. Food production itself is one of the main contributors to environmental damage, so as consumers, we have a social responsibility to minimise the negative effects of food waste. Thankfully, the problem can be easily resolved by recycling and composting regularly, as opposed to allowing rubbish to be taken to a landfill site.
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How many restaurants have a dedicated food waste collection?
The UK has a long way to go to reduce commercial food waste. At Business Waste we recently conducted an in-house survey of our own customer base and took at random 3000 customers in the restaurant, pub (that serve food), cafe and takeaway trade and identified that only 7% of restaurants have a dedicated commercial food collection.
Companies who had a food waste collection bin were generally only found in the larger restaurants, and sadly hardly any pubs (that serve food) or takeaways had a food waste bin.
We aim to change that by educating the importance of food waste collections and campaigning for government support to combat the millions of tonnes sent to landfill each year and divert that negative waste to become positive by using anaerobic digestion.
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Can food waste be used as fertiliser?
Yes, through composting waste food the results should be a rich and nourishing fertiliser. Not all food can be composted and turned into fertiliser though, though check the type first. Anaerobic digestion also leads to fertiliser, as alongside producing renewable gas it generates a rich fertiliser to boost soil and encourage growth.
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Can food scraps be recycled?
Yes, pretty much all food can be recycled either through composting or anaerobic digestions. You can recycle waste fruit, vegetables, grains, bread, eggshells, meat, and more by composting. This turns them into a kind of fertiliser that helps improve soil. Other types of food scraps can be sent to an anaerobic digestion plant for recycling.
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What happens when food is disposed of in a bin?
It depends on the type of bin. If you simply throw away food waste into a general waste bin, then sadly it will end up going to landfill. However, when you dispose of waste food in a commercial food waste bin, it will be collected and transported to a recycling plant. Here it should be either composted or anaerobically digested – both of which are better for the environment.
Get a fast quote for food waste disposal
Get a fast FREE quote for your food waste disposal
- Free quote within 1 hr
- Any type of waste food
- FREE bins and delivery
- We cover all of the UK
23 August 2024
Guide to Recycling for Schools
Recycling at school is the easiest way to teach environmental lessons. Improve sustainability at school with this guide and ideas for recycling for schools.