Keenan Recycling

21/09/2026

Food waste needs more than a bin. It needs a long-term plan!

CIWM is calling for a new strategic direction for England’s resources and waste sector covering the 2030s.

And when it comes to food waste, the message is particularly important: consistency and long-term certainty matter.

Businesses need to know where policy is heading so they can plan, invest and make the right changes from better food-waste prevention and separation to the infrastructure needed to keep unavoidable food waste out of landfill.

Food waste isn't simply something to throw away, but when collected separately, it becomes a resource.

Through anaerobic digestion, unavoidable food waste can be transformed into renewable energy and nutrient-rich biofertiliser, keeping valuable resources in circulation.

The next decade shouldn't just be about where waste goes. It should be about what value we can get back from it.

CIWM's call for a clear long-term roadmap is therefore an important conversation for businesses, policymakers and everyone working across the resources and waste sector.

The future of food waste shouldn't be a waste of time.

18/09/2026

We’re incredibly proud to see Vinay Jalla, Head of Marketing at Keenan Recycling, recognised among the Environment 100 Award 2026 winners.

Vinay has spent his time at Keenan doing what he does best, telling stories that matter. Through articles, press coverage, social storytelling and conversations with the media, he has helped shine a national spotlight on one of the biggest environmental challenges hiding in plain sight: food waste.

Congratulations, Vinay. A thoroughly deserved recognition!

14/09/2026

Micro-businesses: the food waste deadline is coming.

If you’re a small business with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees, 31 March 2027 is the date to put in the diary.

That’s when the Simpler Recycling requirements for micro-firms come into force in England. And there’s one part that deserves particular attention: food waste needs its own separate collection.

You don’t need to run a restaurant to produce food waste.

A few staff lunches.
Coffee grounds.
Tea bags.
Leftover sandwiches.
Fruit from the office kitchen.

It all adds up.

And rather than putting food waste into the general waste bin, businesses will need to think about separating it at source.

Look at what your business throws away. Talk to your waste collector. Get the right container. Make it easy for staff to do the right thing.
Because food waste isn't rubbish.

Through anaerobic digestion, separately collected food waste can be transformed into renewable energy and valuable biofertiliser.

So, micro-firms, consider this your friendly nudge. 31 March 2027 is coming.
Don’t let your food waste get caught with its bin down. 😉♻️

11/09/2026

Could the packaging tax help tackle food waste too?

With the October Budget expected to bring more detail on the Government’s direction for packaging and environmental taxation, businesses should be thinking beyond the tax bill.

Because good packaging can do something even more valuable:
🥦 Protect food.
⏳ Extend shelf life.
🚚 Reduce damage in transit.
🗑️ Prevent perfectly good food becoming waste.

The UK’s Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) system is already shifting the economics of packaging, with fees being modulated to encourage businesses to choose packaging with a lower environmental impact and improve recyclability.

And Plastic Packaging Tax already puts a price on certain plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content.

But there’s an important conversation to have. The most sustainable packaging isn’t necessarily the packaging that uses the least material.

If removing a small amount of packaging means food spoils faster, gets damaged or becomes unsaleable, we may simply be moving the environmental problem from the packaging bin to the food-waste bin.

For food businesses, the smarter question is can our packaging protect the product, minimise waste AND be recovered at the end of its life?

That’s where packaging design, food-waste prevention and the circular economy come together.

When it comes to sustainability, it’s not just what the packaging weighs, it’s what it helps prevent.

09/09/2026

Fresh off an incredible few days at the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ UK 2026 Entrepreneurs Retreat, our Managing Director, Grant Keenan, shares his perspective on the true realities of scaling a successful business.

Having previously won the award and returning as a judge for the 2026 EY awards, Grant offers invaluable lessons for founders on navigating growth.

Watch the short clip below as Grant breaks down common misconceptions and shares key considerations for business leaders.

What are some of your biggest scaling myths? Let us know in the comments!

Keenan Recycling

Fresh from the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ UK 2026 Entrepreneurs R...

08/09/2026

Cheers to Tilos, a tiny island with a big idea!

What if the answer to our waste problem isn’t finding somewhere else to bury it… but finding a better use for it?

The tiny Greek island of Tilos has done exactly that becoming the world’s first island to achieve Zero Waste Cities Certification, with recycling and composting rates close to 90%.

And they’ve done it by changing the way waste is handled from the ground up:
🚪 Door-to-door collections
♻️ Separate recycling
🥕 Separate organic waste
🌱 Food waste turned into fertiliser
🔥 Non-recyclables turned into alternative fuel
📦 Recyclables sorted into valuable raw materials

There’s a lesson here for another island… Great Britain.

We may be a little bigger than Tilos, but the principle is exactly the same: waste doesn’t have to be waste. And food waste is a big part of that story.

Separate food waste collections mean organic material can be kept out of general waste and sent for treatment such as anaerobic digestion (AD).

07/09/2026

Long live the wonky!

Who decided carrots need to be straight, apples need to be perfect and vegetables need to look like they’ve been to finishing school?

We love seeing Oddbox celebrate the wonderfully wonky side of food and, more importantly, rescue fruit and veg that could otherwise go to waste.

Their new An Ode To Oddity campaign is a colourful reminder that food doesn’t need to look perfect to be delicious. And every piece of produce rescued is one less item heading towards the waste stream.

At Keenan Recycling, we believe there’s another important chapter to the food-waste story too.

Because even with the best planning, redistribution and rescue efforts, some food waste is unavoidable. That’s where responsible recycling comes in. Rather than sending unavoidable food waste to landfill, it can be collected separately and sent for anaerobic digestion (AD) transforming yesterday’s leftovers into renewable energy and nutrient-rich biofertiliser.

When it comes to food waste, looking a little odd can be a very good thing. 😉

03/09/2026

FESTIVAL SEASON: LET’S STOP PLASTIC FROM CRASHING THE AFTER-PARTY!

Festival-goers want the music, the food, the sunshine and the good vibes.

They don’t want next year’s festival to come with 105 million pieces of single-use rubbish.

With festival waste estimated at more than 500 double-decker buses’ worth, there’s plenty of room for improvement, especially when so much takeaway food and drink packaging contains plastic.

And here’s the sticky bit: plastic contamination can turn a perfectly good waste stream into a recycling headache.

So as festivals look towards a more plastic-free future, the message is simple: bin it right, keep plastic out of the wrong stream and give waste a better encore.

Because the best festival finale isn't “one more song!” It’s “one less tonne of waste!”

Let’s make 2027 the year festivals rock the recycling without the rubbish.

02/09/2026

Cheers to Brighton & Hove! Recycling rates are on the rise!

Brighton & Hove City Council has recorded its highest-ever recycling rate of 31.6%, up an impressive 7.2 percentage points year-on-year.

And food waste is playing its part. Since introducing weekly food waste collections in September 2025, the council is now collecting almost 500 tonnes of food waste every month, keeping valuable organic material out of the residual waste stream.

That’s a lot of food waste finding a better destination. And with the right treatment, yesterday’s leftovers can become tomorrow’s renewable energy and valuable resources.

31/08/2026

MALT-ING MONDAY - three cheers for AD!

We know… it’s Monday morning. Wh**ky is probably the last thing on your mind. 😉

But here’s some good news worth raising a glass to…

In Speyside, wh**ky production residues are being given a second life through anaerobic digestion (AD) helping produce biomethane capable of decarbonising more than 30,000 Scottish homes.

And that’s not all. The process also produces organic soil conditioners that can support local farmers.

From wh**ky waste to renewable energy, now that’s a dram good example of the circular economy in action.

Because when waste becomes energy, the future is looking rather neat.

Happy Monday from Keenan Recycling!