It’s Food Waste Prevention Week. We spoke with George De Battista, Group Hotel Services Manager at Elysium, about how services across the group tackle the important subject of food recycling.
“Food waste refers to any food that is discarded or uneaten, this includes preparations, spoilage and plate waste. This month (April 2025), new legislation has been introduced by the government that strictly regulates food recycling.
“These new recycling regulations require businesses across England to ensure that all food waste is separated out from other wastes and presented separately for collection by an approved contractor. When food waste is mixed in with general waste, it is often landfilled or incinerated. This effectively wastes the food twice. When it is collected separately, it goes through a process which generates renewable power and produces an organic fertiliser.
“All of our sites are compliant with these new regulations. All across the group, we have a ‘three-bin’ system, whether that’s offices, kitchens, wards, off-wards, etc. There are different recycling options for food (including trimmings), cardboard, glass, tins and general waste. The aim is to keep general waste, and therefore anything potentially going to landfill, to an absolute minimum.
“Some of our sites are very actively composting too, which reduces food waste significantly. And we have a variety of different initiatives in place which make sure we’re doing all we can to be sustainable in how we use food.
“Everything we buy is sustainable, we try to minimise the mileage food products have to travel to reach our services, and we only use recyclable boxes or cups. We use Red Tractor organisations.
“And through being really organised in how we order ingredients and food stuffs, not over-ordering, and really understanding what the people we support want and need in terms of food, we can ensure that we buy and consume what is needed. If portions of food are left over, and it’s appropriate to do so, that can be frozen to be enjoyed on another day.
“Our catering staff teams are trained on how to reduce food waste; it’s part of our best practice and due diligence and something we really do take very seriously. I’m proud to say that we really do have miniscule amounts of food waste across Elysium and will always look to how we can reduce that even further.”