food waste collection
Common questions about waste food

Food Waste FAQs

Managing waste food in your business may bring up all sorts of questions. Knowing what you can put in dedicated waste food bins is important. You might also want to learn more about what happens to it once it leaves your business and how you can create less.

There are many problems with food waste with millions of tonnes generated in the UK each year. It has a big environmental impact, and responsible management is essential for businesses and households. Understand more about the processes involved and find the answer to your question about food waste with these FAQs.

free bins icon.

Get a free quote

Get a fast free quote for food waste collection

  • Fast free quote
  • Any type of waste food
  • FREE bins and delivery
  • We cover all of the UK

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 when producing some food types, damaged goods due to transportation or mishandling that become unsellable, or simply food sold but not consumed in a restaurant, shop, business, or home.

Some waste food may seem unavoidable. At home, you might throw away fruit peel and tea bags as they’re inedible and have no further use. Other reasons for wasting food are preventable though. If certain foods are kept in poor conditions they can spoil and become waste.

Shops and restaurants may overorder food items that go off and become waste. Then there’s all the leftover food after meals in restaurants (plate waste) and at home that gets thrown away.

Commercial food waste collection
crust of bread on table waste food.

Why is food waste a problem?

Food waste is a problem as it harms the environment. More than 1.3 billion tonnes of food waste are generated globally each year. Food production itself is one of the main contributors to environmental damage. It breaks down and emits greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide, which contribute to climate change.

Growing food requires water, land, and human labour. This can affect wildlife, habitats, and biodiversity. The more food is wasted, the more damaging this can be. Food poverty is also still a huge global problem with millions of meals thrown away despite millions of people going hungry.

Find more food waste facts

Where does food waste go?

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 collection where food goes to commercial composting facilities.
  • Pump and vacuum systems – old food, peel, bones, and more can go in pump and vacuum systems to 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 is small and light, making it 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 break 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.
What happens to food waste?

How does food waste 
affect 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 release a large amount of greenhouse gasses. Once food is purchased, we have an extra responsibility to ensure it doesn’t go to waste.

Lots of food waste is sent to landfill, where it will rot away. Decomposing food waste produces methane that enters the atmosphere. This greenhouse gas is partly to blame for the destruction of our ozone layer and climate change. It traps heat and adds to air pollution levels.

Then there’s the environmental impact of transporting waste food from businesses and homes to disposal facilities. Moving huge amounts of food requires lots of fuel that releases emissions and creates pollution.

What are the benefits 
of recycling waste food?

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. 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 pay. Recycling rather than throwing food away 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.

vegetables being peeled next to small compost bin on table.

How can we 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 value of recycling, but 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. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Donate your leftovers. If you have any waste food left over 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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 it to a recycling plant where it can go to an anaerobic digestor.

Can food waste be used as fertiliser?

Through composting waste food, the results should be a rich and nourishing fertiliser. Not all food can be composted and turned into fertiliser though, so check the type first. Anaerobic digestion of food waste also creates a fertiliser. Alongside producing renewable gas it generates a rich fertiliser to boost soil and encourage growth.

Can food scraps be recycled?

Pretty much all food scraps can be recycled either through composting or anaerobic digestion. 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.

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 or be incinerated. However, when you dispose of waste food in a commercial food waste bin, it will be collected and transported for recycling.

This means it should be either composted or anaerobically digested – both of which are better for the environment than landfill.

Can you take food waste 
to the tip?

Businesses must arrange commercial waste collection of any waste food they produce by licensed waste carriers. Some tips may accept trade waste but check if this includes food. And you must have a waste carrier’s licence. You can take food waste from your home to some household waste recycling centres (HWRCs), but it’s best to check first.

free bins icon.

Get a fast and free quote

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

Published 29th January 2025 by Graham Matthews. Last modified 30th January 2025