Restaurant Waste Guide

Everybody in the catering industry knows just how important it is to deal with waste efficiently. Restaurants generate diverse waste, including food, packaging, and recyclables. Effective waste management minimises environmental impact and reduces costs. 

Sustainable strategies such as recycling and composting can help divert waste from landfills, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and maintain the hygiene standards that your customers expect from you. If sustainability and profitability are important to your restaurant business, the effective disposal of waste should be at the top of your priority list. 

Understanding Restaurant Waste

Restaurants generate various types of waste, including:

• Food waste: Leftovers, preparation scraps, and spoiled ingredients.

• Packaging waste: Cardboard, plastic, and glass from deliveries and takeaways.

• Recyclables: Items such as cans, bottles, and paper.

• Hazardous waste: Cleaning chemicals and used cooking oils.

In the UK, the hospitality sector, including restaurants, produces approximately 920,000 tonnes of food waste annually. This accounts for a significant portion of the 9.5 million tonnes of food waste generated nationwide each year. Of this, a large percentage is avoidable, with much of the discarded food still being edible.

Regulatory Framework Affecting Restaurant Waste and Disposal

Restaurants in the UK must comply with strict food waste disposal regulations to ensure sustainability and hygiene. Businesses producing over 50kg of food waste weekly are required to segregate and arrange separate collection for it. 

This is underpinned by laws and regulations. The Environment Act 2021 reinforces this by requiring food waste to be collected separately from general waste and prohibiting disposal via drains or macerators. The incoming Simpler Recycling Legislation will further standardise waste separation practices.

Non-compliance can lead to significant penalties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, including fines, formal cautions or prosecution. Businesses must maintain accurate waste records and use licensed waste carriers to avoid legal repercussions. 

Strategies for Waste Reduction

There are best practices that you can follow to reduce the amount of food waste that your business produces: 

• Conduct a food waste audit: Track waste to identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement. Categorise waste into preparation, storage, and plate waste.

• Optimise inventory management: Use the FIFO (First In, First Out) method to minimise spoilage and overstocking.

• Portion control: Adjust serving sizes to reduce plate waste while meeting customer satisfaction.

• Ingredients: Use trimmings or surplus ingredients creatively in new dishes.

• Donate surplus food: Partner with local charities to donate edible leftovers.

• Composting: Convert organic waste into compost to reduce landfill contributions.

• Organise your bins: Effective bin use is crucial. Make sure they’re clearly labelled. Use colour-coded bins with clear signage to separate recyclables like glass, plastics, and cardboard.

• Train Staff: Educate employees on proper waste segregation and recycling practices. Implementing such plans will be so much easier if you have the buy-in of your staff!

• Partner with recycling services: Collaborate with local waste management companies to ensure compliance and efficiency. Join initiatives such as TerraCycle to recycle hard-to-recycle items.

• Monitor your progress and adjust accordingly: Regularly review recycling practices and improve based on feedback and results.

Implementing Waste Management Solutions

Some of Britain’s biggest restaurant chains have been at the vanguard of implementing inventive and creative waste management solutions. McDonald’s UK have implemented waste-to-energy initiatives, such as converting used cooking oil into biodiesel to power delivery trucks, reducing environmental impact. Pizza Express recycles packaging, glass, and food waste while partnering with suppliers to reduce single-use plastics in operations.

And Wagamama introduced food waste composting and switched to biodegradable packaging, emphasising sustainability.

This sort of innovation can be most clearly seen in the new technologies which have emerged in recent years. AI food sorting systems use robotics and machine learning to separate recyclable materials with precision, improving recycling rates, while smart composting machines rapidly turn food waste into compost, suitable for urban restaurant environments. Smart bins equipped with sensors can monitor waste levels, ensuring timely collection and reducing unnecessary pickups, while technologies like anaerobic digestion transform organic waste into biogas.

Engaging Staff and Customers in Waste Reduction

Getting your staff inside with the changes that you’re making will make actioning those changes much, much easier, and there’s a lot that you can do, including the following: 

• Provide comprehensive training to educate staff on waste segregation, recycling protocols and the importance of sustainability. 

• Use visual aids such as posters or charts near waste stations for quick reference.

• Offer hands-on demonstrations to familiarise employees with processes such as composting or using smart bins. 

• Update training regularly to align with new practices or technologies, and encourage staff involvement by assigning sustainability champions to lead initiatives. 

• Recognise and reward employees who excel in waste reduction efforts to maintain motivation.

But it doesn’t end there! You can extend this to your customers too; you might be surprised to find how many will value it. Here are some promotions that you could try:

• Engage customers by clearly labeling recycling bins and providing guidance on proper use.

• Promote initiatives such as discounts for bringing reusable containers or participation in food waste reduction campaigns. 

• Display information about your sustainability goals to inspire customers to contribute. Involve them further by hosting awareness events or sharing progress on waste reduction via social media. 

Hygiene should be a good enough reason for any catering business to want to ensure its recycling game is on point, but changes to the law in the UK over Simpler Recycling are now imperative. But the good news on that front is that there are more technological solutions than ever to help with this, while there can also be rewards for doing so, both financially and in terms of your reputation. By taking those first steps today, you can ensure that your business is a step ahead of the regulations while reaping the rewards of moving towards a greener future!