A Short & Simple Guide to Restaurant Waste Management to Prevent Pests and Improve Sustainability

Written by Staff Writer

Restaurant employee scraping leftover food scraps into a food waste disposal bin.

One of the least glamorous aspects of working in the hospitality, food service or restaurant industry is waste management. More than just unsightly and a source of bad odors, waste attracts pests, which can carry and transmit harmful pathogens. A single instance or even the perceived risk of pest-related illness can spell disaster for a restaurant’s reputation, signal health code violations and be detrimental to customers’ wellbeing.

Instead of trying to get rid of an infestation, it’s best to prevent pests from becoming a problem in the first place. This begins with developing and implementing waste management strategies and following waste management best practices that reduce risks posed by pests and can also improve environmental sustainability.

Restaurant Waste Disposal Streams

Restaurant waste takes a variety of forms:

Restaurant best practices for waste disposal and pest prevention cartoon depicting a rat and insects in a garbage can overflowing with food.
  • Food waste, both from food prep in the kitchen and remnants left by customers
  • Packaging materials, including cardboard, aluminum cans, plastics and glass
  • Fats, oils and grease (FOG) used for cooking
  • Hazardous materials, such as cleaning supplies
  • General trash, which is anything that doesn’t fall into another category

Though all of these are waste, they shouldn’t be disposed of in the same manner. That’s why most restaurants have separate containers for each waste stream.

Best Practices for Sorting and Disposing of Restaurant Waste

When disposing of waste, it’s essential to sort it correctly. Not only does this align with best practices, but it reduces the amount of trash that ends up in garbage bins and landfills, prevents bins from overflowing and promotes sustainability.

Food Waste

Restaurant food waste frequently gets mixed with general trash because it’s either easier to do or restaurants lack other means of waste disposal. But this can cause garbage cans and dumpsters to fill faster than they should and attract both pests and wildlife.

However, composting is a more sustainable method of restaurant food waste disposal. While it’s not offered, required or practical everywhere, composting is an environmentally friendly food waste management practice to transform organics, like fruit and vegetable peels, eggshells and coffee grounds, into soil that’s ideal for gardening, landscaping and agriculture.

But it’s important to keep in mind that not all food waste is ready for the compost bin — some items may still be edible and nutritious. So, before you dispose of imperfect or close-dated food, consult with a local food pantry or housing shelter. By partnering with organizations like these, you can reduce waste and improve sustainability while supporting local communities and people in need.

Packaging Materials

Packaging materials can often be recycled, and many municipalities offer single-stream restaurant waste recycling where cardboard, metal, plastics and glass can all be commingled. By separating recyclables from other waste, you can reduce the frequency that garbage bins need to be emptied and contribute to broader sustainability efforts.

Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG)

Employees might be inclined to pour fats, oils and grease down the drain, but that would be a mistake. Cooking oils like these can cause plumbing issues, and disposing of them in this manner risks fines for non-compliance with environmental regulations.

By practicing proper FOG management and separating used cooking oils into a dedicated container, they can be properly disposed of or converted into biofuels or other products.

While most disposal companies don’t deal with the large amount of oil and grease that restaurants generate, companies that specialize in restaurant waste can ensure FOG is disposed of properly and sustainably.

Hazardous Waste

Hazardous materials should never be disposed of along with other types of waste — especially food waste, where it can harm wildlife in and around dumpsters or landfills. Additionally, hazardous materials should never be stored or disposed of in the kitchen or in food preparation or storage areas. To adhere to best practices, always dispose of hazardous waste in a separate bin and in accordance with environmental regulations.

General Trash

Not everything can be reused, recycled or composted — and that’s when it’s important to try to reduce what makes its way to the landfill. General trash should always go in a garbage can and should not be mixed with recyclables, hazardous waste, FOG or, when possible, food scraps. This helps minimize the amount of garbage a restaurant generates. That means fewer trips to take the trash out, dumpsters that are less full — and less attractive to pests — and greater sustainability.

Inventory Management Solutions to Reduce Food Waste

One way to reduce food waste is to practice proper inventory management, specifically first in, first out (FIFO) and date-marking.

Date-marking enables you to see when foods are spoiled and should be discarded. FIFO enables you to organize storage spaces efficiently to use older foods first. If you follow the correct procedures, you will save time and money and minimize the amount of food waste generated by your restaurant.

Preventing Cross-Contamination

Garbage that accumulates poses other risks to food safety. In addition to attracting pests, cross-contamination can occur if garbage isn’t managed properly. Old garbage, especially meat scraps and packaging, is likely to harbor pathogens and could contaminate foods. To control this risk, always discard waste away from food storage, service and preparation areas.

Emptying and Maintaining Disposal Bins

Overflowing garbage and recycling bins are off-putting for guests — but they’re an invitation to pests. That’s why taking out the trash before it overflows and keeping dumpsters well-maintained are the first ways you can deter pests from your establishment.

Garbage Cans

On slow days, you might only need to take out the front-of-house trash at close. But in the kitchen and other food preparation areas, and throughout the restaurant on busy days, you should take out the trash more than once a day. After taking out the trash, remember to put new plastic liners in garbage bins to help keep them clean.

But even when using plastic liners, garbage bins should still be washed out regularly, at least once a week or more, if needed. When washing them, be sure to clean them away from any food service, storage or preparation areas to reduce the risk of contamination.

And if you have any garbage or recycling bins that are outside or not in use, they should have a tight-fitting lid to keep pests from getting into them.

Dumpsters

Dumpsters and other exterior waste storage containers are often shared among multiple restaurants or tenants. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to keep them clean, either by washing them out or by contacting your building’s maintenance services or the waste disposal company.

While dumpsters don’t need to be cleaned out regularly, they should:

  • Never be overflowing or have trash outside of them.
  • Undergo periodic exterior cleaning.
  • Have a tight-fitting lid on when not in use.

Strategies to Minimize Restaurant Waste

There are many ways to deal with restaurant waste, but to be most effective, training is key. Educating staff on best practices like proper storage techniques, portion control and inventory management can reduce food waste, prevent cross-contamination and contribute to larger profit margins. That can make all the difference in the restaurant industry, where profit margins are notoriously slim.

To ensure employees dispose of waste properly:

  1. Place disposal bins in a logical, left-to-right order. Begin with organics/compost on the left, then recycling and trash. If you don’t use the same order in every location, or you place the trash bin first, most items will end up in the trash, including recyclables, food waste and other compostables.
  2. Put clear signage on or by all waste bins, using images or icons of what can be disposed of in each.
  3. Hold regular stand-up meetings with staff to reinforce best practices on waste management, as well as on date marking and FIFO procedures.
  4. Retrain staff regularly, especially in high-turnover environments.

Complying with State and Local Waste Management Regulations

When developing a restaurant waste management plan, it’s critical to review state and local regulations. Many states and municipalities have regulations governing food waste and recyclables, such as California’s SB 1383. Other states, such as Massachusetts and Connecticut, have regulations specifically pertaining to organic material and food waste disposal.

With how frequently regulations change, it’s important to stay up to date on new regulations in your location and their specific requirements. And with every change, you need to ensure your team understands how this affects processes and procedures, and that they have the training they need to ensure compliance.