Guide
Business food waste collection: the rule offices get wrong
Updated
Almost every non-compliant workplace we see has dry recycling sorted and no food waste stream. That is the gap the guidance closes most explicitly.
There is no minimum volume
gov.uk states: you must collect food waste, even if the workplace does not serve food or have a kitchen, and this rule applies no matter how little food waste you have. It adds that you should not ask members of staff to take food waste home (gov.uk). An office where people eat lunch at their desks generates food waste: leftovers, banana skins and apple cores, coffee grounds and tea bags, and preparation waste such as onion skins are all listed as examples.
Where to put the bins, and how often to empty them
- Best practice is a food waste bin wherever food waste is likely to be generated, such as staff rooms, canteens and food halls. gov.uk recommends checking bins to see where food waste is actually appearing and adding bins there.
- Weekly or fortnightly collection is what waste collectors recommend, and gov.uk notes it limits pests and smells.
- Do not store food waste for more than 2 weeks, which is gov.uk's own recommendation.
Composting on site is allowed, with conditions
gov.uk describes on-site composting as a permitted alternative to a food waste collection, subject to the relevant rules on aerobic composting and on composting material with animal content. It then adds the caveat worth reading twice: most workplaces are unlikely to be able to compost all of their organic waste effectively. A wormery in the car park is not usually a compliance strategy for a canteen.
Two things that are not food waste
- Compostable and biodegradable packaging. gov.uk states packaging labelled compostable or biodegradable cannot be recycled with food waste, and should be treated as non-recyclable waste or given a dedicated collection. Caddy liners, including compostable liners, can be collected with the food waste.
- Cooking fats, oils and greases. These can be collected with food waste in small amounts, or through a used cooking oil collection, following your collector's instructions. gov.uk states you must never put cooking oil down the drain.
The devolved position differs. Wales ties its food stream to more than 5kg a week at the premises and bans any amount of food going to the sewer; Scotland's duty applies to food businesses over 5kg a week outside rural areas; Northern Ireland's applies to food businesses producing 5kg or more a week. England alone has no minimum volume.