What is food waste?
Food waste refers to food that is discarded or lost at any stage of the food supply chain, from production and processing to retail and consumption. Food waste includes leftover meals, expired items, spoiled produce, and trimmings from food preparation.
Why is food waste a problem?
Food waste can have serious environmental, social, and economic impacts. Decomposing food in landfills releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Additionally, wasting food means wasting all the resources used to produce it; water, energy, and labour.
What types of food waste can be collected?
We will consider all types of food waste and turn over every stone to find a solution. Any questions? Contact the team to discuss: orders@sitesolutions.co.uk
What is bulk food waste?
Bulk food waste is large volumes of discarded food generated by businesses such as restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, food manufacturers, distribution centres, and farms.
Can food waste be collected with packaging?
Yes, often it can.
Many packaged food products can be processed using specialist depackaging systems that separate the food from its packaging before it is sent for recovery. This includes foods wrapped in plastic, cardboard, metal or other materials.
What happens to the food waste after collection?
Food waste may be:
- Processed into compost where appropriate.
- Sent to an anaerobic digestion (AD) facility to generate renewable energy and produce nutrient-rich digestate. For more information about how anaerobic digestion works and what happens to digestate after processing, see our Anaerobic Digestate Waste FAQs.
- Used as approved animal feed for certain former food products that meet strict regulatory requirements.
- Recovered for specialist industrial applications where suitable.
What is anaerobic digestion?
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a natural biological process that breaks down food and organic waste in the absence of oxygen. During the process, microorganisms convert food waste into biogas, which is used to generate renewable electricity, heat, or biomethane.
The remaining material is called digestate, a nutrient-rich by-product that can be used as a sustainable fertiliser or soil improver where appropriate.
What is digestate?
Digestate is the nutrient-rich material left after food waste has been processed through anaerobic digestion.
Rather than becoming waste, quality digestate can be used in agriculture to return valuable nutrients to the soil, helping to reduce reliance on manufactured fertilisers and supporting a more circular economy. Click here to read our Anaerobic Digestate FAQ’s.
Is all food waste suitable for anaerobic digestion?
Not always. Many food waste streams are ideal for anaerobic digestion, but the most appropriate treatment depends on factors such as contamination, packaging, and the type of material being disposed of.
What are food waste regulations?
From 31 March 2025: Under the Environment Act 2021, all businesses in England producing over 5 kg of food waste per week, and/or those with 10 or more employees, must:
- Separate food waste into its own bin.
- Arrange collection via a licensed waste carrier.
Food waste includes all biodegradable material from food prep or leftovers, e.g bones, coffee grounds, tea bags, eggshells, peelings
- Arrange collection via a licensed waste carrier.
- Micro-businesses (fewer than 10 employees) are exempt until 31 March 2027, after which they must also comply
From 31 March 2026, local authorities are required to offer weekly household food waste collections:
Households will use separate containers for:
- Residual (non-recyclable) waste
- Food/garden waste (can be combined if approved)
- Dry recyclables (paper, card, plastic, metal, glass)
A key government aim is to eliminate food waste to landfill by 2030.
Why choose Site Solutions for food waste collection?
At Site Solutions, we work with businesses across the UK to provide compliant, cost-effective, and sustainable food waste collection services.
Whether you produce a few bins each week or multiple tonnes every day, we’ll assess your waste stream and find the most environmentally responsible recovery route, maximising recycling, renewable energy generation, and resource recovery while helping your business stay compliant with the latest legislation.
If you’d like to learn more about the anaerobic digestion process or how digestate and other AD waste streams are managed, visit our dedicated Anaerobic Digestate Waste FAQs.
