Bank holiday waste and ABP collection is something most farms and food businesses only think about when it catches them out, yet the British summer is punctuated by long weekends that disrupt routines just when warm weather is at its most demanding. The late May and August bank holidays, along with staff annual leave, can leave a farm holding fallen stock or a food business holding animal by-products over several hot days with nobody sure when the next collection will come. Planning ahead with a licensed provider of fallen stock and ABP collection removes that uncertainty. Martlands keeps the North West covered through the summer from our Burscough base.
Why Long Weekends Cause Problems
The difficulty with bank holidays is timing rather than the holiday itself. A loss or a full by-product bin on the Friday before a long weekend, in hot weather, is a very different proposition from the same situation on an ordinary Tuesday. Decomposition does not pause for a public holiday, so material that would normally be collected the next day can sit for three or four days unless an arrangement is in place. For farms this means fallen stock, and for butchers, caterers and food manufacturers it means animal by-products and food waste, all deteriorating in the summer heat.
The Legal Clock Keeps Running
It is worth being clear that the law makes no special allowance for bank holidays. The duty under the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013 to arrange collection without undue delay, and the working expectation of removal within twenty-four hours for fallen stock, apply across the whole calendar. A business cannot lawfully let by-products accumulate simply because it is a long weekend, and the on-farm burial and burning ban does not lift for a holiday either. Our overview of legal collection and disposal of fallen stock sets out the duty that continues to apply.
Hot Weather Makes the Window Shorter
Long weekends fall in the warmest part of the year, which compounds the problem. A carcass or a by-product store that might hold acceptably for a day or two in cool weather can become an odour, fly and biosecurity issue far sooner in a heatwave. This is exactly the situation our guidance on why prompt fallen stock collection is critical during hot weather addresses, and it is why a bank holiday in August needs more forethought than one in cooler months.
Planning Around the Break
The practical answer is to plan collections around the long weekend rather than hoping nothing happens. For food businesses that means scheduling a collection immediately before the holiday so bins are empty going into it, and another promptly afterwards. For farms it means knowing your collection arrangement and keeping a clean, accessible collection point ready, so that a loss over the weekend can be dealt with as soon as possible. Caterers and butchers gearing up for a busy bank holiday trade should think about the extra volume too, as covered in our note on butchers waste collection best practices.
Storage Through the Weekend
Where material does have to be held over a long weekend, safe storage matters. Fallen stock should be kept at an accessible point away from feed, water and public areas, and by-products should be in leak-proof, lidded containers kept as cool and shaded as possible to limit decomposition and deter flies. Our practical guide to safe on-farm storage of fallen stock covers how to do this properly when an immediate collection is not possible.
One Arrangement, Year-Round Cover
The simplest way to take the worry out of long weekends is to have a standing arrangement with a collector who covers the region reliably. We run a rapid-response fleet from Burscough out along the M6, M58 and M61, and provide dedicated cover for Merseyside fallen stock collection alongside the rest of the North West. With that in place, a bank holiday becomes a scheduling question rather than a compliance crisis.
Documentation Either Side of the Holiday
Every collection, before or after the break, comes with a Commercial Document, so your records stay complete even across a disrupted week. That continuity matters for assurance schemes and inspections, which do not accept a gap in the paperwork just because there was a holiday.
Why Long Weekends Catch Businesses Out
Bank holidays combine the two things that make waste and by-products pile up, which are higher throughput and reduced operating days. A pub, farm or food business that generates more waste than usual over a long sunny weekend, then waits several days for the next available collection, can quickly run into storage, odour and pest problems in the heat. The answer is to plan the calendar around the closures rather than be surprised by them, confirming collection days on either side of the holiday and making sure storage has the capacity to bridge the gap cleanly.
Confirming Cover Before the Diary Fills
Speaking to your collector well before the bank holiday weekend, agreeing an extra collection where volumes justify it, and knowing who to ring if something cannot wait all remove the last-minute panic. For sites that rely on chilled storage, it is also worth checking that equipment is in good order before a long hot weekend, because a chiller failure on a closed day is exactly the scenario that turns manageable waste into a compliance incident.
To set up dependable fallen stock and ABP collection that keeps you compliant through the summer bank holidays anywhere in the North West, call Martlands on 01704 776977 and we will help you plan around the breaks.
