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Food Waste Collection – Commercial Food Bin

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If you’re asking where you can find food waste collection near me then you’re in the right place.

We provide food waste disposal services for over 25,000 businesses across the UK. This means we can collect near you!

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Get a free quote for your food waste by filling in our 60 second quote form now.


Why use WasteManaged for your commercial food waste collection services?

We have over 12 years of industry experience collecting food waste for restaurants, pubs, hotels, bakeries, kitchens, and other business types.

We also provide excellent customer support and have a dedicated team to make collections go as smoothly as possible.

Finally, we’re trusted by thousands of businesses across the UK and provide a fixed price for collections to ensure that you pay the same amount each month. This makes everything simpler and easier. You’ll know exactly what you’re paying for and won’t be hit with any surprise bills.


Can I get food waste collection near me?

Yes. WasteManaged operates across the whole of the UK so we can collect food waste near you.

Like general and recycling, if we can service these waste types in your area then we most likely can provide food waste collection near you too.

Bin for food waste

Throwing a pizza into the bin

What types of bins are best for my food?

The most common bin type for food waste is a 240L wheelie bin or a 660L wheelie bin. But this all depends on your business’s requirements. There are 1100L food waste bins available – but this size is rarely needed.

Often businesses don’t need bins as large as their general and recycling bins for their food waste. Unless, of course, you are a large restaurant, pub, or hotel.

660 litre wheelie bin for food waste collection
240 litre food bin

Find out more about our business bin options.


What are the different types of food waste?

Food waste can occur at different parts of the food process (from production to consumption). The types can be categorised as manufacturing, sale, and rejection.

Manufacturing

This includes by-products such as bones from meat production, cut-offs from vegetables, discarded misshapen food, damaged food, or from an overproduction of food.

Sale

This is where the food is wasted when it goes off during storage, wasted during cooking (think mistakes in a restaurant kitchen or peels and skins – like the leftovers after Halloween pumpkin carving), packaging defects, or not sold in time for use-by-date.

Rejection

This is where food is wasted when a customer sends back their food from a restaurant for example or leaves parts of their food (plate scrapings). It can also be when a restaurant itself rejects the food from its supplier if it doesn’t meet their standards.


UK food waste statistics

The UK produces around 9.52 million tonnes of food waste each year. WRAP estimates that 70% of this comes from households (6.7 million tonnes), 16% from manufacturers, 12% from hospitality and food services, and 2% from the retail industry.

UK Food waste statistics

This amount of food waste accounts for more than 25 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

Here’s the biggest problem though… 6.4 million tonnes (67%) of this wasted food could have been eaten – that’s 15 billion meals!

This equates to about 250-£400 in wasted food per household in the UK.

The good news, however, is that there has been around a 15% reduction in the total UK food waste between 2007 and 2018. But in 2022, businesses and indeed households need to do more to increase this reduction further.

You can read more about these food waste statistics here.


What businesses benefit most from a dedicated UK commercial food waste collection service?

Not surprisingly businesses that cook, supply, or deliver food to customers would benefit most from a commercial food waste collection service. Restaurants, kitchens, pubs, hotels, and bakeries are the most typical.

Other businesses which may benefit from food collections include large offices which have communal kitchens/eating areas for staff lunches.

It’s incredibly important to keep your food waste separate from your other waste types. It’s also worthwhile doing so financially. Having a dedicated food waste bin will reduce the chances of your business being fined for contaminated waste.

For instance, if your employees throw away food items into your recycling because there isn’t an obvious food bin available, then suddenly your recycling either can’t be collected at all or you may be fined if it becomes a repeat offence.

It’s best to provide a food bin so you can keep your waste separated easily.


How do we recycle your commercial food waste after we collect it?

We strive to be as environmentally friendly as possible when it comes to disposing of our customer’s waste.

If you have a food waste collection service with us, we’ll take your food waste and transfer it to a trusted treatment facility where it can be recycled or disposed of safely.

At these treatment facilities, the food recycling process can begin. Your waste food will most likely undergo anaerobic digestion to produce energy.

What is anaerobic digestion?

Anaerobic means ‘without oxygen’. Digestion means ‘the consumption and processing of food to produce nutrients’. So put simply, anaerobic digestion is the process of taking food material, heating it up and allowing it to fester without oxygen to produce biogas (energy).

Anaerobic digestion process illustration

How does anaerobic digestion work?

Food waste is sorted and shredded, removing any inorganic material such as packaging. Waste liquid (largely wastewater) is then added to the food to create a sort of broth. This broth is then fed into a concrete anaerobic chamber.

From here the broth is heated up and occasionally stirred to avoid any crust forming in the chamber. It’s then left for over 60 days while the anaerobic bacteria grows and breaks down the food, producing methane gas as a byproduct of the bacteria’s food digestion.

This gas is then used as biofuel to power the National Grid.

In addition to the methane gas, the anaerobic digestion of food waste also produces a highly-effective fertiliser which can be used on crops or to enrich agricultural soil.

You can read more about how anaerobic digestion works here and you can read more about food waste recycling here.


Can you reduce the amount of food your business throws away?

Reducing how much food your business throws away means less money spent on food waste bin collections. sounds good right?

Here’s a list of the best ways to reduce your food waste:

  • Don’t order too much (can you order less perishable food items like veg on weeks you expect less demand?)
  • Ensure your chefs and employees are familiar with the food they’re preparing so there are fewer order mistakes
  • If running a buffet then encourage customers to only put what they can eat on their plate
  • Ensure that your refrigeration and labelling system is sound (this avoids food lost from going off)
  • Freeze food if you’re not going to use it in time
  • Consider taking ‘less aesthetic’ food products from your supplier (does it matter if a tomato is misshapen if you’re using it for a soup?)

Not all of these are easy and some may not apply to your business. But taking the time to consider things like this can help you reduce your commercial food waste and, therefore, save on food waste collection costs. You may already be doing most of these. If you are then that’s fantastic.


How do I get commercial food collections near me in the UK?

To get a food waste collection quote you can simply fill out our quick and easy quote form here.

We offer food waste collections accross the UK and have guides for the following areas & topics:

York

Food Waste to Energy

Food Waste Recycling

Our team will get in touch as soon as possible to discuss your food collection needs further and get you set up with the best deal possible for your area.

At WasteManaged we provide a fantastic, highly rated, and recommended service: 

  • Fixed, no-nonsense monthly pricing. We’re the only UK company which offers a fixed bill each month which never changes.
  • We never charge excess weight fees – again, we’re the only UK collector to do this.
  • We offer exceptional customer support to ensure you’re always getting a service you love – if you’re not getting what you want from us, we’ll fix that for you. We’re problem solvers. 

To get a quote or advice on food waste collection then fill out our rapid quote form here.

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