Christmas catering food waste collection is the part of December planning most kitchens leave until it becomes a problem. Party menus, set lunches and Christmas Day bookings can multiply the amount of food waste a kitchen produces, while bank holidays take collection days out of the calendar at exactly the same time. Martlands is a family-run, DEFRA approved collector based in Burscough, Lancashire, and alongside our fallen stock and ABP collection work we collect Category 3 catering waste from businesses across the North West.
This guide is for pubs, hotels, function venues, office party caterers, care homes and schools. It explains what changes in December, what the rules require, and how to plan with your collector in November.
Planning Christmas catering food waste collection for the season
The challenge is simple. More covers, more courses and more prep in the same kitchen and storage space, with fewer working days to collect it. Getting ahead of it means knowing your likely volumes, your storage limits and the dates when collection will not happen. GOV.UK explains the Simpler Recycling rules for workplaces in England in full.
Why December volumes rise so sharply
Most kitchens see food waste increase well beyond the number of extra covers. Christmas menus are heavier, with turkey, trimmings, puddings and cheese boards, and more of the meal goes uneaten. Party bookings bring large groups who leave more on the plate. Venues often prep in bulk days ahead, so trim, peelings and carcases arrive in a few big bursts.
Our hotel food waste collection guide covers the pattern for function suites and banqueting. Pubs that dealt with the summer beer garden surge will recognise the problem from our guide to pub food waste collection, but the winter version brings heavier food and less outdoor space to store it.
Plate waste, prep waste and Category 3
Plate waste and kitchen prep waste look different, but legally they are treated the same way. Catering waste that contains or has been in contact with meat, fish, dairy or eggs is Category 3 animal by-product. Turkey carcases, ham bones, pigs in blankets, cream, custard and gravy all fall into it, and so does a bin of sprouts and parsnip peelings once a plate of leftovers goes in. The government also publishes detailed guidance on animal by-product categories and disposal.
Category 3 waste must be collected by a licensed carrier, go to an approved outcome and must never be fed to livestock. That last point matters at Christmas, when it can be tempting to send leftovers to a farm or to someone’s animals. It is illegal. Our Category 3 ABP collection covers this material with the correct paperwork, and our food waste collection service is set up for day-to-day kitchen waste.
Bank holiday gaps and New Year
In 2026 Christmas Day falls on a Friday and Boxing Day on a Saturday, so the substitute bank holiday is Monday 28 December. New Year’s Day 2027 is also a Friday. That pattern creates long weekends either side of the busiest trading days, and any kitchen that relies on a fixed weekly collection should check now whether its normal day falls on one of those dates.
If it does, agree a revised date with your collector rather than assuming the collection will move automatically. A pub or hotel running a full Christmas Day service followed by Boxing Day and the New Year’s Eve party may need an extra collection between them, or an additional container to see it through the gap.
Extra capacity, outdoor storage and pests
The usual answer to the December peak is more capacity. That might mean additional leak-proof bins for the month, more frequent collections during the busiest weeks, or both. Ask early, because every business is asking the same question in December.
Cold weather helps slow decomposition, but it does not make outdoor storage safe. Bins must stay lidded and closed, sit on a firm surface, and be kept away from doors, vents and delivery areas. Rats and foxes are more active around food sources in winter, and gulls take advantage of anything left open. Overfilled bins with lids that will not close are the most common problem we see at Christmas and the most likely to draw a complaint or an environmental health visit.
Care homes, schools and office caterers
Care homes often serve a full Christmas lunch with family members invited, meaning a much bigger meal than usual from a kitchen built for steady daily service. Schools serve their Christmas dinner in the final weeks of term, producing a one-off spike just before the holidays begin and collections pause. Office party caterers move food between sites, and need to be clear about who is responsible for the waste at each venue.
All of them need the same thing, which is a plan for the peak and a record of where the waste went. Our food waste and ABP collection for restaurants and catering businesses guide covers the documentation side. Every Martlands collection comes with a Commercial Document and a Waste Transfer Note, and our records are suitable for ISO 14001, local authority inspection and sustainability reporting.
Simpler Recycling and Christmas catering food waste collection
In England, Simpler Recycling requires most businesses with ten or more full-time equivalent employees to separate food waste, with smaller businesses following from 31 March 2027. In Wales, workplaces have had to separate food waste since April 2024. A busy month is not an exception, and inspectors will not accept Christmas volumes as a reason for food waste ending up in general waste.
Businesses that also handle raw meat on any scale, such as hotels with in-house butchery or caterers preparing joints, may be better served by our food waste and ABP collection service. Martlands collects under Waste Carrier Licence CB/QE5406MT and Animal By-Products Licence APB/CCN21/373/8002.
The best time to plan Christmas catering food waste collection is November, before menus are finalised and bookings fill. Call Martlands on 01704 776977 or contact us to agree extra capacity and dates around the bank holidays.
