Businesses reminded to sign up for food waste collections

Businesses with 10 or more full-time employees will be legally required to keep food waste, dry mixed recycling, and glass separate from general waste.

They must also arrange for it to be collected by a licensed waste carrier.

Durham County Council will be taking these steps at its venues and is also offering a food waste collection service for businesses in the county. Beamish Hall Hotel was one of the first businesses to sign up for the council’s service, which will see collections carried out using new trucks specially designed to transport organic waste.

Businesses will be supplied with specialist kitchen caddies or separate wheeled bins by the council or whichever provider they choose.

The food waste collected will be taken to digestion plants and converted into energy using the anaerobic digestion process.

Businesses that don’t comply could face a fine and a non-compliance notice from the Environment Agency.

The new regulations, part of the Government’s Simpler Recycling legislation, aim to tackle this issue, helping to reduce carbon emissions and boosting national recycling rates.

Get more information.