Guidance

Treating food waste where the food was served and consumed: RPS 229

Updated 21 July 2022

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/treating-food-waste-where-the-food-was-served-and-consumed-rps-229/treating-food-waste-where-the-food-was-served-and-consumed-rps-229

This regulatory position statement (RPS) does not change your legal requirement to get an environmental permit for a waste operation when you store and treat food waste where the food was served and consumed.

However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you if do not comply with this legal requirement provided:

  • your activity meets the description set out in this RPS

  • you comply with the conditions set out in this RPS

  • your activity does not cause (and is not likely to cause) pollution of the environment or harm to human health

When this RPS applies

This RPS applies to storing and treating food waste from preparing and consuming food where that food was served and consumed.

This RPS does not apply to waste produced:

  • at domestic premises

  • by the food manufacturing and processing industry

In this RPS, a premises includes a single identifiable site with multiple premises within it, for example a shopping mall with several restaurants and cafés. The:

  • site must be owned or operated by, or on behalf of, a single owner or occupier

  • food waste must be collected together and treated at the same site

Conditions you must comply with

You must:

  • only store and treat food waste from preparing and consuming food under waste code 20 01 08 (biodegradable kitchen and canteen waste)

  • store and treat the waste at the premises where the food was served and consumed, for example at a restaurant, café or canteen, including those that serve food prepared off-site

  • remove all non-food contaminants from the waste before you treat it

  • only treat the waste using specialised equipment which macerates, grinds, liquefies, dewaters, separates, screens, digests or composts food waste

  • follow the manufacturer’s instructions to operate and maintain the equipment

  • store and treat the waste in a secure place – one where you have taken all reasonable precautions to prevent waste escaping and where the public cannot access it

  • store the waste in containers that are fully enclosed and leak-proof to prevent and minimise odour, stop liquids escaping and prevent access by vermin and pests

  • provide secondary containment for liquid waste stored outside, such as a bund or any other system that prevents waste escaping

  • keep records for 2 years to show that you have complied with this RPS and make these records available to the Environment Agency on request

You must not:

  • treat more than 20 tonnes of waste a day

  • store more than 50 cubic metres of waste at any time

  • store waste for more than 7 days – unless it is treated solid waste which is stable and sanitised, in which case you can store it for up to 30 days

Other authorisations

You may need:

  • authorisation from the sewerage undertaker to discharge effluent from treating food waste to a foul sewer

  • to comply with the regulations for animal by-products

When you must check back

The Environment Agency will review this RPS by 30 June 2024. You will need to check back then to see if it still applies or if you need to apply for an environmental permit.

The Environment Agency can withdraw or amend this enforcement position before it expires if they consider it necessary. This includes where the activity that this RPS relates to has not changed.

If you cannot comply with this RPS

If you operate under this RPS but think you may no longer be able to comply with its conditions, you must tell the Environment Agency immediately.

Contact the Environment Agency

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

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