 Food Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
From 1st April 2017, food business operators are prohibited from depositing food waste in a public drain or sewer, or in a drain that connects to a public drain or sewer. Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012/Section(2K) From 1st Jan.2016, food business operators are prohibited from depositing food waste* into a public drain or sewer, punishable by a spot fine of £300 and up to £10,000 upon prosecution. Waste (England & Wales) Regulations 2011 A ban on food waste* disposal into a public drain or sewer is currently pending legislative approval through an Environmental White Paper Bill in Wales’ Assembly. Food (Safety and) Hygiene Regulations (England, Wales & N. Ireland) 2016 Food business operators are required to have food safety and hygiene management control procedures in place and to demonstrate compliance around HACCP principles.
FOOD WASTE REGULATIONS Wet waste food particles will inevitably be discharged through plugholes during any wash-ware discharging operation, unless suitable food-to-drain prevention measures are in place. This never-ending food supply leaves a trail back to the premises that attract pests. Sink strainers can only restrict some larger food particles* from waste water discharges and it is important that commercial food operations install food trap interceptor tanks which are adequately designed to trap both large and fine food sediment particles through settlement as well as the free floating organic hydrocarbon component through flotation. A commercial food trap interceptor should incorporate a regular removal regime of all these trapped food waste particles, so as to prevent them from building up and bypassing down stream into the drainage system. The food trap can be categorised as non-complex equipment, requiring only gravity to allow settlement and does not need any moving parts or power supply for it to operate. The sealed tank unit should have a removable cover to allow complete internal access, for both inspection and for the regular removal of all the intercepted food particles. FOOD HYGIENE REGULATIONS Food Business Operators should be able to demonstrate to their local authority compliance officials, that they have management control procedures in place that are designed to prevent food waste from entering the public drain and comply with all current food law. From 1st April 2017 food business premises that continue to discharge using the drainage system as an illegal dumping ground for disposal of food waste, through non-intercepted pipework will be deemed to be utilising structurally inadequate plumbing and drainage. Local authority officials who accept self-attestation in place of physical evidence of compliance with current food law should file this in documented form for reference, should future issues arise indicating a challenge to the contrary, or should a conflict with another intergovernmental department later develop.
How to select a Food Trap Interceptor … HYGIENE Select a Food Trap that is completely sealed from the kitchen atmosphere to prevent escape of foul sewer gas. ACCESSIBILTY Ensure that there is total access to all internal compartments within the interceptor unit to allow complete removal of all food sediment. CAPACITY Select a Food Trap that has sufficient storage volume to retain the recommended optimum retention of one months’ throughput and a minimum of two weeks worth. CONVERGENCE Design and group the kitchen wash-down appliances with their plumbing and drainage layouts to converge at single centralized interception point/s. POSITION Select the installation location of the Food Trap Interceptor to be under-ground and outside* from the kitchen as the first preference option wherever possible.
On 1st April 2017, N. Ireland sets a new legal precedent when the final clause of the Food Waste Regulations (N. Ireland) comes into effect.  This final article states clearly that it is illegal for food business operators to deposit food waste into the drainage system. The traditional method for preventing this is by ensuring that a grease or food trap is installed in the kitchen drain line.
In 2013, the government funded research organization, WRAP, produced a food waste report highlighting that up to 25kg/yr. food waste per person went down the kitchen sink and also, that within the hospitality and food service sectors, as much as 50% of food waste could be disposed of via macerators, wasteful food preparation or incidental wash down procedures. By implementing this environmentally groundbreaking legislation so soon after the release of a recent EU court of Food Waste Auditors report (17th Jan. 2017), N. Ireland positions itself high on the list for tackling food waste and with support from local authority enforcement will mean that this gaping food waste drainage loophole can now be plugged in N. Ireland at least. The new statutory rule of N. Ireland states that from 1st April 2017, it shall be the duty of any person who produces food waste to ensure that food waste is not deposited in a lateral drain or public sewer. It is anticipated that this new food law in N. Ireland will also have implications for local government planning and building regulations as well as sewerage service operators and local authority environmental health and food standards agencies, whose duties include enforcement of structural, food management and food law policies. Full version: www.caterwaste.com  N. Ireland restaurants get ready for introduction of New Food Regulations
1st April 2016 saw the introduction into law for most Catering Waste Producers in N. Ireland to implement a series of measures in order to comply with the new Food Waste Regulations (N. Ireland) 2015. One key requirement within the regulations is that all segregated food waste that is separately presented must also be separately collected for recycling at a registered recovery plant. Restaurant kitchen wet waste food traps or grease traps should only be emptied into sealed food waste tankers or containers and not re-mixed with other categories of waste once separated. The waste food must then be sent for recycling at a registered waste food recovery plant. Any food waste that is later found to be improperly disposed off could be traced back to the restaurant operator. It will also be necessary for the food operator to retain their duty of care documentation for a minimum of 2 years so that they may demonstrate compliance to local authority food hygiene rating inspectors upon request. In addition, the proposed new Food Hygiene Regulations set for implementation on 1st Oct 2016 may interpret the absence of a food trap in the kitchen drain-line as evidence of defective structural drainage facilities and/or a failure to meet HACCP prerequisite criteria, contributing to a mark down on “Score on the Door” 1st April 2016 sees the introduction into law for most Catering Waste Producers in Northern Ireland to implement a series of measures in order to comply with the new Food Waste Regulations (N. Ireland) 2015 .
One key requirement within the regulations is that all segregated food waste must also be separately collected for recycling at a registered recovery plant. Restaurant waste FoodTraps must also be emptied into food waste tankers or containers only and not re-mixed into foul waste tankers or containers such as septic waste slurry tanks. The waste food must then be sent for recycling at a registered waste food recovery plant. Food waste that is found to be improperly disposed off via slurry tankers etc will become the responsibility of the restaurant operator. CaterWaste provide documented Duty of Care evidence that catering operators may demonstrate compliance to local authority inspectors upon request. Free Site Assessments are availale from CaterWaste until April Food Day!! www.caterwaste.com |
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