Guidance and suggestions for minimising waste at events.
Food waste
To minimise food waste, council staff and caterers should:
- plan ahead to reduce surplus food
- buy food based on accurate forecasting and conservative ordering in light of expected attendance and past patterns
- allow for late adjustments to orders
- record leftover quantities after events to refine future ordering
- redistribute food that is safe and suitable for consumption through food banks or community organisations
Where distribution is not possible, leftover food should be disposed of using designated food waste recycling bins, not general waste bins.
Single use plastics
To minimise the use of single use plastics, you should:
- avoid selling or supplying single-use plastic cutlery, crockery, containers and straws in line with the national single-use plastics bans and restrictions, except where exemptions apply
- consider using re-usable items where possible, for example running a deposit return scheme for re-usable cups, or using compostable items and make sure they are disposed of appropriately and not in general waste
- keep single use plastic to a minimum in food preparation, segregate from other waste and recycle as appropriate
- pick up litter at the end of the event (bearing in mind health and safety precautions), dispose and recycle as appropriate
Follow the Green Events Code of Practice where possible.