A Practical Guide to Food Waste Packaging: What Businesses Need to Know

Food waste and its packaging remain among the most common waste streams across workplaces including offices, hospitality venues, retail, and food service. But not all packaging is created equal. What looks recyclable or compostable may behave very differently once it enters the waste system.

This guide breaks down the main types of food packaging, explaining where they really belong, and highlights how contamination such as leftover food and grease can disrupt recycling. Our aim is to help businesses make informed, practical choices that support both sustainability goals and operational efficiency.

Why Food Packaging Matters

According to the latest WRAP data, total Food Waste produced in the UK in 2021 reached 10.7 million tonnes across households, hospitality, retail, manufacturing, and farms. Households alone produced around 6.0 million tonnes of food and drink waste in 2022.

A separate review suggests that 4.4 million tonnes of this could have been avoided, demonstrating how important both behaviour change and sustainable packaging design are for waste reduction.

For businesses, packaging choices do not just impact environmental outcomes. They also affect waste contamination rates, recycling performance, and long-term waste related costs.

Packaging Types and What They Mean in Practice

Below is a breakdown of common food packaging types, how they behave in the waste system, and what we recommend based on Bywaters’ experience working with thousands of London organisations.

Why Contamination Changes Everything

Even the best packaging can’t be recycled if it’s heavily contaminated.
For example:

• A paper plate → recyclable when clean, not recyclable when greasy
• A plastic container → recyclable only once rinsed
• A compostable cup → only recyclable if processed through industrial facilities

Recent WRAP data from 2024 indicates that in a sample of input material at MRFs, 16.6% was contamination, demonstrating how common incorrect items or residue are in recycling bins.

This leads to higher disposal costs, lower recycling performance, and increased emissions.

6. Reusable Solutions

As more organisations look beyond single-use packaging, reusable systems are becoming one of the most effective and reliable ways to reduce waste at source. Many workplaces already have the right infrastructure to support reusables, especially those with dishwashers, commercial kitchens, or on-site catering operations.

Why reusables matter

Reusable solutions removes the need for single-use packaging, and the unnecessary waste generation that comes with it. This approach typically has a lower carbon footprint over its lifetime and significantly reduces contamination issues in recycling streams.

Examples of reusable systems

Modern reuse models vary, and many can be adapted to office, hospitality or food-service settings:

• Dishwasher-supported reusables
  Workplaces with kitchens can switch to washable plates, bowls, cups and cutlery. Once rinsed and cleaned, these cycle back into use without creating waste.
• Closed-loop container systems
  Services like Reuser Club and ClubZero offer returnable takeaway containers that are collected, washed and redistributed. These systems are ideal for staff canteens, food courts or sites with steady food traffic, ensuring reusable items stay within a controlled loop.
• Reusable food-to-go solutions
  Durable, washable takeaway boxes such as those offered by EcoToGo can replace disposable meal containers in cafes and canteens. Customers simply return them after use, and the operator cleans them onsite for future service.

When reusables work best

Reusable systems are most effective when a site has:

• Access to dishwashing facilities or commercial cleaning services
• A controlled environment such as an office, corporate campus, university, food market or canteen
• Clear processes for returning, washing and redistributing containers
• Staff engagement and simple instructions to reduce losses

Bywaters recommendation

If your site has the ability to wash and reuse items, reusables should be the first-choice option. They reduce waste, prevent contamination, lower long term procurement costs and support a circular approach to food service. For businesses looking to start small, pilot programmes or closed-loop takeaway systems can be an easy and impactful first step.

7. Emerging Packaging Materials: Seaweed Based Alternatives

Seaweed based packaging has gained significant attention as a low impact alternative to traditional plastics. Innovators in this space have developed materials made from seaweed and plants that are naturally biodegradable, plastic free and capable of breaking down without industrial composting conditions. Seaweed grows quickly, does not require freshwater, fertilisers or agricultural land and can absorb carbon as it develops. This gives it a strong environmental profile compared with petroleum based packaging. Early lifecycle assessments indicate that certain seaweed coated containers can reduce embodied carbon emissions by up to 79 percent compared with conventional plastic packaging and by around 39 percent compared with PLA coated board.

Other emerging solutions within the seaweed packaging sector include water soluble films, coated takeaway containers and flexible alternatives designed to replace hard to recycle single use plastics such as condiment sachets and food to go wraps. These formats are particularly promising for applications where lightweight packaging is required.

Although the environmental benefits are compelling, seaweed based packaging remains at an early stage of commercial adoption. Availability is still limited, costs are higher than standard materials and disposal routes are not yet consistent across the UK. As with all emerging materials, it is essential that organisations confirm the appropriate end of life pathway, since waste facilities may process seaweed based products differently depending on their composition.

So, What Should Businesses Choose?

Here’s a simple hierarchy:

Best choices

• Switching to reusable alternatives where possible
• Single-material packaging
• Recyclable rigid plastics (PET,PP)
• Clean cardboard/paper (where grease is minimal)

Use with caution

• Soft plastics
• Composite packaging
• Compostable materials (only if you have the right waste stream)
• Grease-absorbing paper packaging

Bywaters’ Perspective

At Bywaters, we support businesses in making practical, evidence-based decisions about packaging. Our sustainability team regularly reviews materials, contamination patterns, and end-market conditions to help clients choose options that:

• Reduce environmental impact
• Keep recycling streams clean
• Improve segregation on-site
• Lower overall waste management costs

We also offer site assessments, training, and AI-powered waste audits to help teams understand which items are key contaminants and how to address them.

Final Thoughts

There is no perfect packaging material, but there are better choices depending on your food offering and your onsite waste streams.

By focusing on reusable alternatives, single materials, reducing contamination, and avoiding unnecessary complexity, businesses can significantly improve recycling rates and make a measurable impact on sustainability.