
Waste management for food & drink industries
Flexible and reliable waste collections to support pubs, restaurants, cafes, clubs, and fast food businesses
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- 97% service reliability
- 4,000 businesses in our community
Waste collections when you need them
Having a flexible and reliable waste collections supplier, that can adapt with your business during weekly or seasonal demand is important. Working in the hospitality sector can often be fast paced with demanding customers whether this is a busy city or country pub, restaurants, or smaller cafe’s and specialist fast food outlets. Speed and efficiency are important factors in the running of the business, while trying to maintain good customer service.
The administrative side of the business can be challenging enough normally, but with added pressures of seasonal changes in the weather (rain, snow or sunshine) or with Christmas and New Year parties or other celebrations, you need reliable & professional suppliers who can support you.
Using an expert waste collections supplier cuts down administration and stress if you can rely on one company to remove all the different types of waste from your premises. Whether your business is a restaurant, cafe or a pub, or a specialist fast food outlet then Hills Waste Solutions makes it easy for your business.
With our proven track record of working with the hospitality and tourism sectors, Hills provides:
- Reliable and flexible collection services
- Competitive rates and a quality service
- Recycling of food waste - even in its packaging
- Glass and dry mixed recycling

Expert Advice
Food waste, glass waste and dry mixed recyclables are likely to be the main waste types that you generate, and, as experts, we’ll help you determine the best waste solution for your business needs based on our experience, providing the value for money and efficiency you need. We understand the balance between cost and quality, and we consistently provide outstanding value while ensuring full compliance, reliability and minimal environmental impact.
Through our close working style, we’re able to continually monitor your costs and make recommendations for effective savings. We also provide regular reporting against agreed targets, keeping you informed about your waste management costs.
Thanks to decades of working alongside companies in the hospitality sector, we understand that margins are tight and every cost affects your bottom line. We’re experts in balancing value for money with the quality you need while ensuring full compliance, reliability and environmental sustainability.
Meals are wasted in the hospitality & catering industry
cookedbest.com/food-waste-facts
The food & hospitality sector loses £3.2 billion a year through food waste
guardiansofgrub.com
and other 'non-food' waste that's thrown away, could have been recycled.
wrap.org.uk
of food waste produced annually by the Hospitality & Food services
lordslibrary.parliament.uk/food-waste-in-the-uk/
Scheduling Waste Collections
Not all food and drink businesses work to the same schedule. That’s why we offer a reliable and flexible waste collection service designed to fit around your business. Most of the time, regular, scheduled collections will be exactly what you need. When seasonal fluctuations occur you can simply adjust your collection service to cope.
Health and Safety
All businesses need to be aware of good health and safety and we’re one of just a handful of waste management companies to hold three ISOs, so we always have health and safety and compliance covered as part of our value-for-money, hassle-free service.
Recycling and sustainability
The hospitality industry is acutely aware of the need to protect the environment with many businesses now adopting sustainable practices, from using sustainably sourced to ethically sourced food for consumption.
At Hills we aim to recycle as much business waste as possible, as locally as possible. We help businesses to ensure that their waste is segregated as much as possible. For example the food we collect will go to anaerobic digestion facilities where it is converted into fertiliser and energy. The glass we collect will be recycled to make new products.
Managing your waste
As part of our service we’ll work with you to determine the best solution for your business needs, looking at the type of waste you produce, the volume of waste and the most convenient time for waste collection.
We can provide you with an extensive range of waste containers, appropriately sized and suited to your business needs, to avoid problems caused by poor waste storage. For more information on our container range take a look at our dedicated pages:
Food waste containers
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for packaged and unpackaged kitchen and food waste, drink waste and more.
FIND OUT MOREFor our general waste bins, we have a variety of sizes to match your business needs. They’re perfect for all types of lightweight, compactable, non-recyclable waste, such as packaging and black-bagged refuse.
Tips and tricks to minimise your waste
The EU Waste Framework that guides the UK’s waste legislation encourages all businesses to reduce, reuse, recycle and recover their waste, in that order. Only once those options are exhausted should we consider disposal. So how can your business play a part?

REDUCE

REUSE

RECYCLE
RECOVER
You might think that a waste management plan only helps with the waste you want to dispose of, but actually, there are lots of benefits to understanding your waste streams, starting with your procurement process. For example if you find you’re throwing away a lot of perishable produce, perhaps there’s an opportunity to make savings by rethinking the size of portions you provide to customers. Can you choose to buy products and ingredients that reduce your waste impact and running costs?
If you supply food to your customers, no matter how good your food waste management plan is, supply and demand means there will always be times when you’ve got unused produce. The good news is that there are loads of brilliant causes who can make good use of it. Charities, including foodbanks and food redistributors, are always on the lookout for good quality surplus produce, so you may not even need to leave your kitchen to turn waste into valuable meals for vulnerable people.
Frequently asked questions
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What is Commercial Food Waste?
Commercial food waste is waste generated by businesses and organisations, including food service providers and retailers. The type of food waste produced varies from business to business, for example, food preparation waste and left over food is commonly disposed of by restaurants whereas unsold or expired food is more likely to be disposed of by green grocers, food wholesalers and supermarkets.
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Why should businesses recycle their food waste?
There are many reasons why businesses should consider recycling their food waste instead of disposing of it in other, less environmentally friendly ways, including:
- Reducing costs - By segregating your food waste from other general waste and choosing a trusted waste management supplier such as Hills to handle your food waste can save your business money by avoiding general waste overweight charges.
- Environmental benefits - Food waste in landfill produces methane that contributes to climate change. Recycling food waste reduces the amount that reaches landfill and helps mitigate its environmental impact.
- Hygiene - Not only can food waste be unsightly and cause unpleasant smells, it can pose a risk to health. Our robust waste food bins are designed to store your waste hygienically and our flexible collection service means it can be collected as frequently as your business needs.
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What happens to food waste after it is collected?
Once collected, food waste is taken by our purpose-built vehicles to a local facility and is recycled using innovative anaerobic digestion technology. This creates energy that is fed to the National Grid and fertiliser for the agriculture industry. You can be confident that your food waste will be handled responsibility and contribute to positive change.
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What are the main types of Commercial Food Waste?
The main types of commercial food waste include unsold or expired food products including fruit and vegetables, dairy products, meat and bakery products and also food preparation waste such as eggshells and coffee grounds.
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What types of food can you collect?
Hills Waste accepts all types of food waste, including raw and cooked foods, and food that is still in packaging. The type of food that we collect includes kitchen waste, bread and bakery products, fruit and vegetables, dairy products, seafood products and residues from food production.
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What types of businesses can benefit from Commercial Food Waste Recycling?
Any business that generates food waste can benefit from commercial food recycling, such as canteens, restaurants and cafes, fast food retailers, supermarkets, food manufacturers, schools, hospitals, and offices.
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Why should Food Waste be separated?
Food waste should always be disposed of in dedicated food waste containers so that it can be collected and treated in the correct way, avoiding landfill and preventing contamination with other waste types - making it easier to recycle.
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Can you collect packaged food?
Hills Waste collects food even if it is still in packaging. After collection it is separated and sent to an Energy from Waste Facility where it is processed to generate energy that is distributed back to the national grid.
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Food Waste Facts and Statistics
Food waste is a significant issue in the UK and worldwide with WRAP estimating that 9.5 million tonnes of food is wasted in the UK every year (source) There are many plans and schemes that have been created to mitigate this, including The Courtauld Commitment that aims to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030 through education and creating a more efficient system.
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What is Drink Waste?
Drink waste includes any packaging and containers that hold beverages such as plastic bottles, cans and glass. Businesses, including restaurants and supermarkets, that generate this type of waste must dispose of it in an appropriate and responsible manner.
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How can Drink Waste be disposed of?
Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled indefinitely. It is important that all glass waste from bottles and jars are disposed of correctly in the right container so that trusted waste carriers such as Hills can collect it. Once collected, glass waste will be processed in a specialist facility and turned into new products or aggregates. Learn more about our glass recycling services. Other drink waste types such as plastic and cans can also be recycled and used to create new products. Our dry mixed recycling service provided a convenient way to recycle cans, plastic, and other recyclable material.
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How much glass waste is generated by the commercial food and drink industry?
Bars, restaurants and pubs are estimated to dispose of over 200,000 tonnes of glass every year into landfill which then takes a significant amount of time to break down naturally. Hills Waste can ensure that your business disposes of glass waste correctly in the appropriate glass bin for recycling into new products.
Want to know more?
We’re experienced, local experts who understand the unique demands of waste management in the Hospitality and Tourism sector. Contact our friendly professional team today to find out how we can help you meet your waste disposal and recycling challenges.