Winter event waste: Start planning your waste management now

George Gash

Published: 15/06/2023

Updated: 30/10/2023

You can’t have a winter event without some mulled wine, or a German food stand. If you’re having food stalls, you’re going to need a way to handle your food waste. Having enough food waste bins around your stalls stops people from just throwing their leftover food on the floor or in any recycling bins you might have. If you’ve got lots of different venders, having separate food waste bins helps you to make sure that any food from food prep is handled correctly too.

Ensuring your food waste is handled separately is a great way to keep your winter event green as well. If food waste mixes in with your dry mixed recyclables, it can contaminate the materials making it harder to recycle them. However, with a separate bin, you can make sure that as much of your waste is recycled as possible. Any food waste collected can be composted or turned into green energy through Anaerobic Digestion, helping you meet sustainability targets you might have in place.

No-one wants to get caught short. It’s important to consider hiring portable toilets for your winter event. There are a few things you’ll need to consider before you hire them. Take into account the number of attendees you’re expecting and how long the event will last alongside whether you’re serving food and drink at the event. The more people attending, the more portable toilets you’ll need. The same goes for food and drink, you’ll need more if you’re serving refreshments. To avoid the nasty stereotypes that come with portable toilets, consider investing in a washroom service too to make sure everyone leaves with a positive impression of your winter event.

Having the right number of bins for your attendees is another crucial part of your winter event’s waste management plan. If you don’t have enough bins, you could end up with masses of litter on your site. Your attendees won’t want to be drinking their hot chocolates or egg noggs surrounded by piles of rubbish. Making sure that there’s enough bins with clear signage at your winter event is an easy way to prevent your attendees from littering. Consider all the possible waste streams your winter event may have. With a separate bin for each waste stream, you can make sure that your recycling rates are as high as possible.

Having a skip on site to empty these bins is crucial too. You’ll need to consider your estimated number of attendees as well as how many bins you have on site. This ensures that you choose the right skip size for your winter events. If you’re expecting lots of guests over a longer period, a couple of ‘Roll On Roll Off’ skips might be the best choice.

Even if you provide enough bins for every attendee, you’re probably still going to end up with some rubbish on the floor and there needs to be someone there to clean it all up. This is where a team of litter pickers is essential to your event’s waste management plan. You’ll need to take the length of the event and the number of expected attendees into consideration to make sure you have enough litter pickers necessary. Having the right number of litter pickers at your event keeps it clean and tidy. This minimises any health and safety hazards on your site. Also, getting a team in after the event makes sure that you leave the site as clean as you found it too.

Need help creating a waste management plan for your winter events? Our team of experts at Flame UK can create a bespoke waste management plan for your event, tailor-made to meet the specific requirements of your event. Get in touch with our experts today to find out more.