ABP colour coding is one of those rules that looks like a small detail until something goes wrong. A green bin full of bones in a butcher’s back room, a yellow-labelled skip on a farm and a black container of specified risk material at an abattoir each tell everyone who handles them, from the person filling the container to the driver and the processing plant, exactly what is inside and where it is allowed to go. As a family-run, DEFRA approved collector based in Burscough, Lancashire, Martlands handles all three categories every day as part of our fallen stock and ABP collection, and the colour on the container is usually the first thing our drivers check.
This guide explains the colours and wording that UK guidance typically expects, why a single wrong item can change the category of an entire load, and how to set up a simple system in a kitchen, butcher’s shop, farm or processing plant.
How ABP colour coding works in practice
The animal by-product rules require that, during collection and transport, material is identifiable by category. Labels, packaging, containers and the accompanying paperwork all have to agree. The colours below are the standard used across the UK industry and reflected in official guidance, and they are what an inspector, an environmental health officer or an auditor will expect to see. The government also publishes detailed guidance on animal by-product categories and disposal.
Category 1 – black and “for disposal only”
Category 1 is the highest-risk material. For most of our customers that means ruminant carcasses containing specified risk material (SRM), for example cattle over 12 months and sheep or goats over 12 months or with a permanent incisor erupted, along with SRM removed at abattoirs and cutting plants such as the vertebral column from cattle over 30 months. Category 1 packaging and containers are typically coloured black, and labels should carry the wording “for disposal only”.
That wording matters because Category 1 has the narrowest set of outcomes. It goes for incineration or for processing followed by disposal, never into feed or fertiliser. When we provide Category 1 ABP collection, the container, the label and the commercial document must all say Category 1, otherwise the receiving plant cannot accept the load as presented.
Category 2 – yellow and “not for animal consumption”
Category 2 is coloured yellow. It covers most fallen stock that is not Category 1, including pigs, poultry, horses and younger ruminants, plus material such as manure and digestive tract content, and animals or parts rejected as unfit for reasons that suggest a disease risk. The required wording for Category 2 is typically “not for animal consumption”.
On farms, yellow is the colour that matters most outside cattle and sheep. A pig unit’s dead pig bin, a poultry shed’s daily mortality container or a lambing shed’s bin for young lambs should all be clearly marked as Category 2. Our Category 2 ABP collection is booked and documented on that basis, so a correctly marked container keeps the paperwork straightforward.
Category 3 – green and “not for human consumption”
Category 3 is the lowest-risk category and is coloured green. It is material that came from animals fit for human consumption at slaughter, or that was food, but is no longer intended for people. Bones, fat and trim from a butcher’s block, out-of-date packaged meat, former foodstuffs containing animal products and catering waste all fall here. The standard wording is “not for human consumption”.
That phrase can surprise people, because a tray of trim looks like food. The label exists precisely because Category 3 material looks edible, and it must never drift back into the food chain or be fed to livestock. Green bins on a Category 3 ABP collection should be kept separate from food stock, and in a butcher’s shop that usually means a clearly labelled lidded bin in the chiller or a dedicated cold store, never on the cutting floor next to saleable meat. Our butchers waste collection customers receive leak-proof containers for exactly this reason.
Why one mixed bin changes the whole load
The single most common colour-coding failure we see is mixing. If Category 1 material is placed in a Category 3 container, the whole contents must be treated as Category 1. If Category 2 goes into Category 3, the whole container becomes Category 2. Mixed material is always treated as the highest-risk category present, and that has real consequences.
Material that could have gone to a lower-risk outcome now has to go down the Category 1 or Category 2 route. Paperwork that says Category 3 is now wrong. In a cutting room, a single bag of SRM dropped into the green bone bin turns the whole bin into Category 1. On a farm, putting a casualty older ewe into the same container as young lambs makes the lot Category 1. Colour coding is the cheapest way to stop this happening, because staff can see at a glance which bin a piece of material belongs in.
For a fuller explanation of what sits in each group, see our guide to animal by-product categories 1, 2 and 3.
Matching the label to the commercial document
Every collection Martlands makes is accompanied by a Commercial Document (CD) and a Waste Transfer Note (WTN). The CD records the category, the description and quantity of the material, where it came from and where it is going. The colour and wording on your container should match what is written on that document.
When they do not match, everyone has a problem. A receiving plant may refuse a load where the container says one category and the document another. An inspector checking your records will compare what you keep on site with what has been signed out. Keeping the label, the container colour and the CD consistent is one of the simplest ways to show control. Our guide to commercial documents for ABP and fallen stock collections covers what each copy is for and how long to keep it. Martlands collects under Animal By-Products Licence APB/CCN21/373/8002 and Waste Carrier Licence CB/QE5406MT, and those details appear on the paperwork you keep.
Setting up colour coding in kitchens, shops, farms and plants
In a commercial kitchen the job is usually simple. Most catering waste is Category 3, so green-labelled, lidded and leak-proof bins near prep areas and the pot wash, emptied into a larger external container, cover nearly everything. The main risk is staff throwing general rubbish or packaging into the food waste bin, which is a contamination issue rather than a category one.
In a butcher’s shop, two colours are often needed. Green for bones, fat and trim, and black for any SRM, such as vertebral column from older cattle where a butcher is authorised to remove it, or heads from older sheep. Put the black bin where the SRM is removed and nowhere else, and make it physically different from the green one.
On a livestock farm, the split is usually between Category 1 adult cattle and sheep and Category 2 pigs, poultry and young stock. Clear labelling on carcass covers or holding containers helps the driver and keeps the CD correct. Processors and abattoirs may need all three colours, with separate routes from the line to each container.
Whatever the setting, labels should be durable, readable when wet and fixed to the container rather than the lid alone. Our guide to storing animal by-products covers temperature, location and container condition.
Getting ABP colour coding right with your collector
Good ABP colour coding takes minutes to set up and saves trouble at every collection, inspection and audit. If you are unsure which category your material falls into, or which containers and wording you should be using, talk to us before collection rather than after. Call Martlands on 01704 776977 and we will help you put a clear, compliant system in place.
