{"id":2329,"date":"2022-11-01T15:15:26","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T15:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mapalstg.wpengine.com\/en\/?post_type=resource&p=2329"},"modified":"2026-08-26T12:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T11:55:11","slug":"sustainability-reducing-food-waste-hotels-restaurants","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/mapal-os.com\/en\/sop\/sustainability-reducing-food-waste-hotels-restaurants\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainability: reducing food waste in hotels and restaurants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sustainable development has become a major global challenge in recent years and has gradually transformed many spheres, both economic and social.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, and the area of food waste in hotels and restaurants,\u00a0is just one of the themes we\u2019ve covered in our recently published\u00a0Expert guide to hospitality compliance for multi-site businesses<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more, our customers are becoming more aware of these issues and are choosing companies that demonstrate their commitment to sustainability<\/strong>. In Accenture\u2019s 2021 report, Declutter marketing for the reimagined consumer<\/a>\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b, 50% of the 22,000 global customers surveyed said they\u2019d reimagined their values and now base their purchasing decisions on factors beyond price and quality. Of these \u201creimagined\u201d consumers:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

66% said they now expect brands to take more responsibility for motivating them to live by their sustainable values<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

65% are attracted to brands that that source services and materials in highly ethical ways<\/strong>. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

65% of reimagined customers are attracted to doing business with brands that environmentally friendly<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many organisations are already driving change in the hotel and restaurant sector, including the Sustainable Restaurant Association<\/a> (SRA), who assists restaurant businesses in their efforts to improve sustainability, both in the UK and internationally. The SRA also offered some great advice in our recent whitepaper<\/strong>, Becoming a more sustainable hospitality business<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which UK regulations cover food waste in the hospitality industry?\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The UK government has been somewhat slower to enforce sustainable compliance measures to reduce food waste in commercial business.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up until now, food waste regulations have been targeted more towards domestic waste. Businesses in the UK are currently only required to ensure that food waste in restaurants and hotels is hygienically disposed of<\/strong>, ensuring no cross-contamination during food preparation and no stipulation that it should be recycled.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government also levies and environmental tax on businesses to encourage them to be more eco-responsible. Exemptions to certain types and size of business, however, mean that these regulations are far from universal.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this will shortly change, and\u00a0 <\/strong>stricter legislation may be introduced in 2023<\/a>. This is likely to include mandatory separate food waste collection with a targeted recycling rate of 75% by 2030<\/strong>. It\u2019s now a case of when, and not if.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sustainable compliance in Scotland: positive results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, the Scottish government introduced similar legislation<\/a>. It was part of its plans to promote a circular economy for food waste which treats waste as a resource that can be reused or recycled endlessly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2016, all Scottish businesses that produce over 5kg of food waste<\/strong> have a legal obligation <\/strong>to ensure all food waste and spoiled items are collected for separate recycling by a registered waste carrier service.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The feedback has been positive, and evidence shows that food service companies have changed their buying habits to order only what they need in order to reduce their food waste. It also cut down on general waste being sent to landfill as a result.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zero Waste Scotland revealed in 2016 that the amount of food treated at Scottish anaerobic digestion plants increased by as much as 15,000 tonnes <\/strong>in the first few months after the legislation was introduced and it\u2019s been rising ever since.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How to prepare for new UK food waste and sustainability compliance legislation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n


A full analysis\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first stage of any food waste reduction initiative is to do a full analysis to identify where and how much food is being wasted in your organisation<\/strong>. To do this, it-s essential to weight the amount of waste produced in your business and there are three steps\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first stage\u00a0is diagnosis, essential to be able to identify the causes and quantities of daily waste in your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This involves a weighing process with three steps:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n