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Commercial waste, recycling and grease in kitchens ​

Everything a restaurant, café or takeaway throws away is business waste, from cardboard boxes to used fryer oil. The law asks three things of you: hand it only to someone authorised to take it, with a written description; separate recycling and food waste before it is collected; and keep fats, oil and grease out of the drains. This guide covers England. Wales and Scotland have their own recycling rules, summed up near the end.

Your duty of care ​

“Any waste that comes from a commercial activity is business waste,” says GOV.UK. Under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, anyone who produces or keeps it must stop it escaping and, when passing it on, make sure it goes only to an authorised person, with a written description of the waste. The household exemption covers only the occupier of a home, for the household waste produced there, so it does not cover a business. Until it is collected, store waste securely in suitable, labelled containers, covered so it cannot blow away.

Check who takes your waste ​

Your council, as the waste collection authority, or a business registered as a waste carrier, broker or dealer can take it. “In England, you can check registration on the EA’s public register or call 03708 506 506,” says the code of practice. Search the public register by registration number, business name or postcode, and write the check down: it is evidence that you met your duty of care. If you suspect someone of fly-tipping or illegal disposal, do not give them your waste, and report it to the Environment Agency.

A change is coming. Regulations made on 22 July 2026 move carriers in England “from a registration to a permit-based system”, as the government’s policy paper puts it. Most of it takes effect in July 2027, with time for existing carriers to move across; until then, check the register as above.

Waste transfer notes ​

Can my invoice be the note? Yes, if it carries the same information: “For each load of non-hazardous waste you move off your premises, you need a waste transfer note or a document with the same information, such as an invoice.” The code of practice lists what goes in it: the waste’s List of Wastes code, “its quantity and nature”, the type of container, “the time and place of transfer”, “the SIC code of the transferor”, both sides’ names, addresses and signatures, their permit or registration number, and a statement that you applied the waste hierarchy, which GOV.UK sums up as preventing, reusing, recycling or recovering waste, in that order.

How long do I keep it? You and the business taking the waste both sign it and “keep a paper or electronic copy for 2 years”, to show the council or the Environment Agency if asked. For the same waste collected by the same carrier, a season ticket can cover up to a year, with a schedule of the date, time and quantity of each collection; keep both “for 2 years after the last waste transfer”.

Penalties. Breaking the duty of care is a criminal offence. The magistrates’ court can fine up to “the statutory maximum”, and the code notes “no upper limit on the courts’ power to fine” in the Crown Court. Failing to produce your documents when asked can bring a £300 fixed penalty instead of prosecution.

Separating recycling and food waste ​

Since 31 March 2025, every workplace in England must separate its waste before it is collected, and GOV.UK’s list names “cafes, restaurants, pubs, take-aways”. Waste from staff, customers and visitors counts. There are three streams: “dry recyclable materials (plastic, metal, glass, paper and card)”, “food waste” and “non-recyclable waste”. Compostable or biodegradable packaging does not go in the food bin.

Paper and card are collected separately from plastic, metal and glass, unless the collector has made a written co-collection assessment. That is the collector’s job; yours is to present waste “separated in accordance with the arrangements” you have with them. The Environment Agency can serve a compliance notice, and “It is an offence to fail to comply with a compliance notice”.

I have six staff. Do I need food waste recycling? Micro-firms, with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees counted across the whole business “rather than at a certain business location”, have until 31 March 2027. Part-time staff count pro rata, and you do not need to apply. The regulations measure this as at 31 March 2025, when they came into force; if you opened later, ask the Environment Agency. After that date, yes: “This rule applies no matter how little food waste you have.”

Fats, oil and grease ​

Can I pour a little oil down the sink? No. “You must never put cooking oil down the drain.” Fats, oils and grease can go out with your food waste, for small amounts, or through a used cooking oil collection, following your collector’s instructions. The Food Standards Agency adds: food waste in the bin, not the sink; sink strainers; and plates and pans dry wiped first.

Do I need a grease trap? GOV.UK’s pollution guidance for England says “Never put fats, oil, grease or solid items down drains”, and a restaurant whose washing-up water carries grease “should install fat and sediment traps to prevent blockages”, with the water company’s permission to discharge it. The FSA says to install grease management equipment “such as a grease trap or a grease removal unit”, and “This equipment must be maintained appropriately”. For building work in England, Approved Document H says “Drainage serving kitchens in commercial hot food premises should be fitted with a grease separator complying with BS EN 1825-1:2004 and designed in accordance with BS EN 1825-2:2002 or other effective means of grease removal.”

The sewer offence. Section 111 of the Water Industry Act 1991 makes it an offence to put into a public sewer, or a drain connected to one, “any matter likely to injure the sewer or drain, to interfere with the free flow of its contents”. It does not name grease, but fat that blocks a drain seems to fit those words, and the FSA warns that “you could also risk prosecution”. The penalty is a fine, plus up to £50 for each day it continues after conviction, or in the Crown Court up to two years in prison, a fine, or both.

Used cooking oil. Defra’s guidance, an older page from 2014, says “Any waste food (including used cooking oil) that comes from restaurants” is catering waste, and “You must never send catering waste to be used as farm animal feed or to be used as pet food.” It goes to a registered collector with a transfer note; for storing it, see our fire and gas safety guide.

Wales and Scotland ​

  • Wales: workplace recycling rules have applied since 6 April 2024. They ban “Sending food to waste sewers (any amount)”, and food is separated where premises produce “more than 5kg of food waste a week”.
  • Scotland: outside rural areas, a food business must take all reasonable steps to have food waste collected separately unless it produces “less than 5 kilograms of food waste a week”, and food waste must not go into a public drain or sewer.

A short checklist ​

  • A registered collector, checked on the public register, the check recorded.
  • A transfer note, invoice or season ticket for every collection, kept 2 years.
  • Dry recycling, food waste and the rest separated; paper and card apart.
  • Micro-firms: all of it in place by 31 March 2027.
  • No oil, fat or food down the sinks, and strainers fitted.
  • A maintained grease trap, and the water company’s permission.
  • Used cooking oil to a registered collector, never to animal feed.

Sources ​

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For your own premises, ask the Environment Agency, your council, or your water company about drains.