Food waste in your business: A practical guide to reducing, reusing and recycling

With new regulations like Simpler Recycling now in place, understanding how to manage food waste properly has never been more important.

This guide breaks it down into simple, practical steps you can take across your organisation.

In statutory guidance, titled Food and drink waste hierarchy: deal with surplus and waste published in January 2024, the UK government sets out a clear eight-step hierarchy for dealing with surplus and waste food. 

This guidance has been developed for businesses and organisations which produce, handle, treat or dispose of surplus or waste food and drink. At SUEZ, we have many customers in hospitality and food service, manufacturers, retailers, food producers as well as local authorities, so this short guide will be particularly handy for organisations from these sectors.

So what’s the deal with handling food and drink waste and managing surplus?

The rule is simple — start at the top (best option) and only move down if needed. 

The Food Waste Hierarchy list shows, at a glance, the options from best to worst:

1. Prevent waste
2. Redistribute surplus food
3. Use for animal feed
4. Turn into biomaterials
5. Recycle (anaerobic digestion or composting)
6. Land spread
7. Energy recovery
8. Disposal (landfill or sewer)
   

Why food waste matters for your business

Food waste isn’t just leftovers — it has a real cost. In fact, food waste is a major contributor to climate change, with significant environmental impact across the supply chain.

It increases disposal costs and contributes significantly to carbon emissions. Very often it highlights inefficiencies in your operations, so when tracked and measured, food waste could give plenty of insight about your business’ operations.

The good news is that most of it can be avoided or turned into value.

A smarter way to manage food waste

The UK government recommends following a simple priority order (known as the food waste hierarchy):

• Prevent → Redistribute → Reuse → Recycle → Recover → Dispose
  

The key principle is straightforward: keep food at its highest value for as long as possible.

Step-by-step: What to do with food waste in your business

1. Start with prevention. The best waste is the waste that never happens.

Focus on:

• Better stock control and ordering
• Accurate forecasting
• Reducing overproduction
• Monitoring what’s being thrown away
  
  

Many businesses find that simply tracking food waste reveals quick cost-saving opportunities.

2. Redistribute surplus food. If food is still safe to eat, keep it in the food chain.
You can:

• Donate to charities and food banks
• Partner with redistribution organisations
• Work with local community groups
  
  

Business benefit: supports social value goals and reduces disposal costs.

Key rule: never use food past its “use-by” date.

3. Turn surplus into a resource. Before treating food as waste, ask: can it be used differently?

Options include:

• Animal feed (where regulations allow)
• Repurposing into new products
• Using food by-products in other processes
  

This is particularly relevant for manufacturing and large-scale operations.

4. Recycle food waste. When food can’t be reused, recycling is the next step.

The preferred route: anaerobic digestion (AD). This process:

• Converts food waste into renewable energy
• Produces fertiliser for agriculture

Food waste separation is now a legal requirement under Simpler Recycling for many businesses in England, and by the end of March 2027, businesses with less than 10 full time employees will have to comply as well. This means food waste must be collected separately from general waste.

5. Only use recovery or disposal as a last resort. Landfill and disposal should always be your final option and increasingly, they’re the most expensive.

How Simpler Recycling changes things

Simpler Recycling is designed to make waste management clearer and more consistent. What it means for your business:

• Food waste must be separated for collection
• Dry recyclables must be kept separate from general waste
• Applies to most businesses with 10+ employees (since March 2025) 
  

The aim is simple: better quality recycling, less waste, and lower environmental impact.

Real results: how SUEZ customers are reducing food waste

Retail: Cutting costs and carbon

A leading UK supermarket worked with SUEZ to redesign its food waste system:

• Introduced smarter logistics and collections
• Diverted around 150 tonnes of food waste per year
• Reduced costs by 48% (approx. £170,000 annually)
• Lowered carbon emissions through fewer vehicle movements
  

A great example of how the right system delivers both environmental and financial gains.

Multi-site retail: Improving recycling performance

SUEZ supported a national retailer to improve waste segregation:

• Reduced general waste by ~15%
• Delivered £119,000 in annual savings
• Improved staff engagement through better process
  

Small behavioural changes across multiple sites created significant impact at scale.

Moshulu: Achieving zero waste to landfill

Retailer Moshulu partnered with SUEZ to transform its waste management:

• Achieved 94.3% recycling rate
• Sent zero waste to landfill
• Improved operational efficiency and reporting
  

A strong example of aligning sustainability goals with business performance.

Practical tips to get started

Here are some quick wins you can implement today:

• Separate food waste at source
• Place bins where waste is generated
• Train and engage staff
• Use clear signage and labels
• Review your waste data regularly
• Work with a trusted waste partner, like SUEZ.
  

Often, it’s not about big changes, it’s about making the right thing easy to do.

How SUEZ can help

At SUEZ, we support businesses at every step of their food waste journey through:

• Reliable food waste collections
• Support with Simpler Recycling compliance
• Waste audits and performance insights
• Tailored solutions for multi-site and complex operations
  

You can find out more about Simpler Recycling here.