Martlands provides North Wales food waste collection for hotels, restaurants, caravan parks, cafes and food manufacturers from the Dee estuary to the Conwy valley. As a family-run, DEFRA approved collector based in Burscough, Lancashire, we already run fallen stock and ABP collection across the region, and food waste from kitchens and production lines is handled with the same licensing, paperwork and attention to detail.
North Wales is not simply an extension of the North West. Welsh workplaces have operated under their own recycling law since April 2024, the visitor economy swings hard between summer and winter, and the A55 corridor links businesses spread along a long, narrow coastline. This guide explains what that means for your food waste in practice.
What North Wales Businesses Need From North Wales Food Waste Collection
The Welsh Workplace Recycling Regulations and your kitchen
Since 6 April 2024, the Workplace Recycling Regulations in Wales have required workplaces to separate food waste from other waste streams and present it for separate collection. Unlike the phased approach in England, the Welsh rules apply to businesses, charities and public sector workplaces regardless of headcount, so a twelve-cover cafe in Conwy sits under the same duty as a large hotel on the Llandudno promenade. The regulations also stop food waste being sent to sewer, which matters for any kitchen that has relied on a food waste disposer under the sink. The government also publishes detailed guidance on animal by-product categories and disposal.
The practical upshot is simple. Food waste needs its own container, it must not be mixed with general waste or dry recycling, and it must go to a collector who can take it lawfully. Our food waste collection service provides leak-proof containers and the documentation you need to show your separation arrangements are working if Natural Resources Wales or the local authority asks.
Why most kitchen waste is a Category 3 animal by-product
Food waste from a commercial kitchen is not just general waste in a different bin. Catering waste that contains or has been in contact with meat, fish, dairy or eggs is classed as Category 3 animal by-product material, which brings extra controls on how it is stored, carried and processed. It also cannot be fed to livestock, however tempting that might look to a smallholder neighbour offering to take the leftovers.
Martlands holds Animal By-Products Licence APB/CCN21/373/8002 and is licensed for Category 1, 2 and 3 material, so mixed kitchen waste, plate scrapings and out-of-date chilled stock can all be collected under one arrangement. If your operation also produces trim, bones or production rejects, our Category 3 ABP collection covers that material properly classified. For a fuller picture of how kitchens in this sector manage the different streams, see our guide to food waste and ABP collection for restaurants and catering businesses.
Coastal hospitality from Prestatyn to Llandudno
The North Wales coast lives by the season. Hotels and guesthouses in Llandudno, bars and takeaways along Rhyl seafront, and restaurants in Colwyn Bay and Conwy can see food waste volumes multiply between Easter and the end of the school summer holidays, then fall back sharply in winter. A collection pattern that suits January will leave bins overflowing in August, and warm weather makes that a hygiene and pest problem quickly.
We plan frequency around your trading pattern rather than a fixed schedule, so collections can step up for peak weeks and ease off when the season quietens. Containers stay sealed between collections, which matters in town-centre yards where bins are stored close to neighbours and public footpaths. Booking and changes are managed through our KoLeCt system, so a busy event weekend can be planned in advance rather than handled as an emergency.
Caravan parks and holiday villages
The holiday parks around Towyn, Kinmel Bay, Abergele and Prestatyn are effectively small towns in summer, with clubhouse kitchens, takeaways, cafes and on-site shops all generating food waste. Two problems come up repeatedly. The first is contamination, when guests put food waste in general bins or general waste in food bins. The second is storage, because food waste containers are often kept a long walk from the kitchens that fill them.
Clear separation at source, with food waste containers placed where staff actually work, solves most of it. We supply leak-proof containers sized to your output and agree a collection point our vehicles can reach safely on site roads. Park operators should also remember that out-of-date stock from the site shop, especially chilled meat and dairy, belongs in the food waste stream rather than the skip.
Snowdonia visitor catering and rural sites
Inland, cafes, hotels and visitor centres around Betws-y-Coed, Llanberis and the edges of Eryri face a different challenge. Volumes are often smaller, roads are narrower and some sites are a long way from the A55. That can tempt businesses to let food waste build up for longer than is sensible between collections.
Category 3 material should be stored in covered, leak-proof containers, kept away from vermin and collected before it becomes a nuisance. Where access is tight, tell us about it when you book. A realistic collection point agreed in advance avoids wasted journeys and missed collections on a busy bank holiday.
Food manufacturing on Deeside and around Wrexham
The industrial estates at Deeside and Wrexham include bakeries, ready-meal producers, meat processors and food packers whose waste is very different from a hotel kitchen. Production rejects, packaged returns, trim and off-specification batches all need classifying correctly, and manufacturers are often working to ISO 14001, retailer audits and sustainability reporting at the same time.
Every Martlands collection comes with Commercial Documents and Waste Transfer Notes, which provide the audit trail those systems ask for. Manufacturers producing meat or mixed animal by-products can combine streams through our food waste and ABP collection, and sites close to the border may also find our Cheshire ABP collection page useful where operations sit on both sides of the Dee. Butchers and farm shops with cutting rooms should look at our dedicated North Wales butchers waste collection service instead.
North Wales food waste collection paperwork, licences and staying inspection ready
Under the duty of care, a business must pass its waste only to an authorised carrier and keep records of each transfer. Martlands holds Waste Carrier Licence CB/QE5406MT and Site Licence EAWML/100236 alongside our ABP licence, and our documents are suitable for local authority inspection, ISO 14001 and sustainability reports. Keep them together and in date order, because an inspector checking your separation duty will usually want to see evidence of regular collections, not just a contract.
To arrange food waste collection anywhere along the North Wales coast, inland or on the industrial estates, call Martlands on 01704 776977 or contact us online and we will set up containers, frequency and paperwork to suit your site.
