Is your waste disposal illegal?

Is your waste disposal unit illegal? Sorting through the facts…

Typically, 40% of waste from a commercial kitchen is food waste, and managing this challenge properly has become increasingly important for caterers.

“If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind the US and China.” – United Nations

Recently, this topic has garnered a lot of media attention, mainly due to changes in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where traditional macerator-type waste disposal units have been banned in non-rural areas where food collection services exist. See here for further guidance.

What does this mean if you’re a business located in England?

Currently, the latest information is that there is no legislation in place or anticipated regarding how foodservice establishments should dispose of food waste. As long as disposal is in line with legislation relating to public health requirements and animal by-product legislation.

What’s all the fuss about?

While it’s fair to say that legislation isn’t anticipated at this point, that in itself doesn’t mean that trends should be ignored. Primary legislation in Wales is already being debated to cover food waste management, which could at least suggest similar reviews for England too.

We have already seen tax breaks introduced in countries such as France and Italy, on restaurants and supermarkets that reduce waste output and handle existing waste responsibly.

Why be prepared then?

There are compelling commercial reasons for any business to review its food waste. Research by the ‘Waste & Resources Action Programme’, for example, shows that a plate of wasted food costs a restaurant an average of 97p. This means the initial investment for a more environmentally friendly waste disposal system can have a significant return on investment in a very short space of time.

Furthermore, there have been discussions for tax breaks for companies that make conscious efforts to reduce their food waste. It should also be noted that this legislation isn’t just focused on catering outlets but also food suppliers such as supermarkets. Supermarkets are being incentivised to give excess produce to charities or people who are in need rather than just adding to the landfill. For example, ‘The Guardian’, conducted research and found that 44% of all bread baked in Britain went to waste. Supermarkets in the UK seem to be adopting good practice shown by our European neighbours, and have started making conscious efforts to cut waste before more laws are passed.

It’s fair to say that the big issue with waste disposal units is that their direct costs are seemingly very low; as a result, there is little emphasis for operators to be responsible, aware, or even accountable for food waste – after all, it goes down the drain! Most of the new market innovations incorporate some form of measurement of waste, allowing commercial caterers to create a target-driven and objective approach to reductio,n which further reduces the costs of production and disposal.

Waste management in general is becoming an increasingly hot topic in developed countries, and one can reasonably assume that even if the waste disposal isn’t made ‘illegal,’ many businesses will find increasingly compelling reasons to review their arrangements.

What are the solutions?

Online innovations….

That’s right! Even online, businesses such as ‘Creeks’ help caterers of all sizes manage their waste.

The Creeks Food Compost Machine is an automated composting solution designed to efficiently convert organic waste (like food scraps) into compost using microbial technology. These machines are popular in homes, restaurants, schools, and offices for reducing waste and producing nutrient-rich compost.