5 ways your business can become greener

Sustainability continues to be a hot topic for the restaurant sector, with increasing calls for action rather than just words. As Juliane Caillouette Noble, CEO at The Sustainable Restaurant Association, neatly puts it: “We’re seeing a significant cultural shift in how restaurants need to broach sustainability - one that leans heavily towards accountability and action.”

This, she says, is being driven by both rising expectations from customers and increasingly stringent environmental legislation. “For a restaurant to meet these expectations going forward, sustainability can no longer be an aspirational ‘nice to have’. Now, indisputably, action matters more than intention, and sustainability work needs to deliver real, measurable change.”

So how can the sector go about taking action to boost its sustainability credentials? Detailed below are five areas to look at.

1 More efficient energy use

Energy price spikes have hit the hospitality industry particularly hard in recent years. While costs have eased from the extremes seen during the global energy crisis of 2022, operators continue to face fresh pressures from a more complex energy market, including changes to grid infrastructure and rising charges linked to periods of peak demand.

Charges associated with grid strain, such as the Capacity Market Supplier Charge, can rise sharply during winter evenings: exactly when restaurants, bars and hotels are at their busiest. Meanwhile, changes to regulatory and network costs, including fixed charges for transmission and usage, have added further pressure, particularly for multi-site operators.

Hospitality is uniquely exposed to energy price increases due to its reliance on energy-intensive equipment, from refrigeration and ventilation to cooking equipment and heating systems, many of which must operate continuously. As a result, improving energy efficiency and reducing consumption has become a priority for the sector.

For Ben Hall, the first step towards a more sustainable energy strategy is also the one most restaurants overlook: understanding how much energy they are actually using. Hall, who runs his own pizza restaurant - The Pizza Yard in Wakefield, West Yorkshire - alongside his role as business development manager at Equity Energies, part of DCC Energy GB, moved into energy consultancy after finding himself struggling to understand the rising costs affecting his own business.

“Most restaurants don’t have that picture,” he says. “Without it, everything is based on guesswork.” Before investing in new technology or setting ambitious decarbonisation targets, operators need visibility over what energy they use, when they use it and where it is being consumed.

That understanding is becoming increasingly important as energy bills become more complex. While wholesale prices remain a major factor, the overall cost of energy is also being shaped by non-commodity charges, including network costs, balancing costs, capacity market levies and policy charges. These regulated costs, which help fund upgrades to the energy system, are expected to continue rising, meaning operators may not see the full benefit if wholesale prices fall.

Cutting consumption

For restaurants looking to cut consumption, Hall says the biggest opportunities are often found in areas that customers never see. Extraction systems left running overnight, air conditioning cooling empty dining rooms, equipment switched on hours before service and poorly maintained refrigeration can all contribute to unnecessary energy use.

“These things mostly cost attention rather than money,” he says. “That’s exactly why they get missed, because there is always something more urgent going on.”

When it comes to longer-term investment, Hall warns operators against making decisions based purely on sustainability goals without considering cost and reliability. The energy transition will require significant investment, from electrifying kitchens to replacing equipment, but the right approach is to plan changes around the natural replacement cycle of existing kit.

“The question isn’t ‘gas or electric today’, but ‘what am I locking myself into?’” he says. “If a piece of kit is due for replacement anyway, that’s the moment to weigh up the electric option seriously.”

For Hall, the businesses that make the biggest progress are those that get the fundamentals right first. Once operators understand their energy usage, they can identify immediate savings and make better-informed decisions about bigger investments such as on-site generation, battery storage and flexible energy contracts.

2 Better waste recycling

When it comes to recycling waste, there is certainly much more the hospitality sector can be doing. According to WRAP, the Waste and Resources Action Programme, food waste costs the hospitality and foodservice sector a whopping £3.2bn every year, which it says works out at an average of £10,000 per hospitality outlet per year. This, it says, is money that businesses should see in their profits, not in the bin.

According to Alice Harlock, director of technical and member services at OPRL, the UK’s leading packaging recyclability and labelling scheme, WRAP’s last comprehensive report into recycling in the food and hospitality sector, back in 2015, recorded recycling levels at 56%. However, when trade body UKHospitality surveyed its members in advance of implementation of the Simpler Recycling legislation, two-thirds were not currently recycling food waste. “Historically, restaurants have perhaps found recycling more of a challenge than their hospitality cousins in hotels due to space issues and the prevalence of SMEs,” she says.

According to data from Greenpeace, around nine billion recyclable items are still thrown away in general waste every year in the UK, meaning they end up in landfill or incineration instead of being recycled. With beer gardens full, major sporting events driving footfall, and takeaway demand increasing, pubs, bars, and restaurants will generate significantly more waste over the summer months.

That said, Mark Chapman, head of corporate accounts (Dining) for waste management company Biffa, believes the sector has worked hard to improve its recycling credentials. “The restaurant sector has made significant progress in recent years and food waste recycling is now widely adopted across many operators,” he says. “However, recycling should not be viewed as the end goal. The next stage of maturity for the industry is to focus on prevention.”

Chapman believes that while recycling food waste delivers environmental benefits, the greatest impact comes from reducing the amount of food waste generated in the first place. This, he says, can be achieved through better forecasting, inventory management, menu engineering and staff engagement.

“The most sustainable food waste is the food waste that never exists,” he continues. “The industry should continue investing in data, technology and behavioural change programmes that help identify avoidable waste and drive operational improvements. Success should not be measured solely by how much waste is recycled, but by how much waste is prevented.”

Given the potential savings at stake, waste prevention - rather than recycling - should be a key pillar of every foodservice business. “Many businesses focus on recycling rates rather than asking why the waste is being created in the first place,” says Chapman. Businesses often know what they spend on waste but not what they are throwing away, where it is generated, or the cost of that waste.”

Chapman stresses the importance of ownership and accountability in waste management, which he says is often nobody’s primary responsibility meaning opportunities for improvement are missed. Easy wins include making recycling easy for teams, especially during peak service, and creating simple and effective segregation that is easy to understand for everyone and doesn’t take up too much time or take attention away from servicing guests.

He also suggests induction training and periodic training to instil good practices and make sure everyone is aware of how things should be done. “Scale up for busy periods, [don’t] wait and then struggle for capacity or run with too much void in the quieter time.”

Avoid mistakes

Even with the best intentions, there still a lot of margin for error when recycling. Contamination can be an issue for waste placed in recycling containers. For example, a while cardboard boxes for takeaway pizza are technically recyclable, any food stuck to the box will render it non-recyclable, and potentially contaminate a whole batch of cardboard.

“People want to recycle, but sometimes their enthusiasm can cause problems,” says Harlock. “Takeaway facilities, in particular, need to think about what happens when packaging leaves the premises. While some packaging will be taken home, where it can be disposed of in household collections, many items will be consumed on-the-go, without the same range of disposal options.

“Contamination is the greatest challenge. Communicating that contaminated packaging is not recyclable is a tricky message to get right. It is also important to assess the likelihood of contamination and realistic disposal options when choosing packaging.”

Another mistake, according to Chapman, is relying on general waste as a catch all, especially at busy times. He says businesses should ensure teams know why there is a need to segregate different items and they are adequately trained and have the correct tools. “Map out the location and understand each point of waste conception, then challenge why is waste produced and how can it be eliminated or reduced,” he says. “Another mistake is focusing on disposal costs rather than the value of food, labour and energy embedded in wasted products and not measuring contamination rates in recycling streams.”

Know where your waste is going

Under England’s Simpler Recycling legislation, which came into force last year, businesses in England with more than 10 employees are now required to separate dry mixed recyclables, as well as food waste for collection and onward treatment via anaerobic digestion or food waste composting facility. Harlock says businesses should be asking questions of their waste contractor to demonstrate where food waste is taken, as well as checking that all potential recyclable waste streams are being sorted and recycled.

“Reputable waste management firms will be able to provide full traceability of your waste,” she says. “This includes waste transfer notes and waste carrier licences, as well as destination reports and recycling breakdowns for all waste streams.

“Businesses can also help their customers with recycling to ensure it can be managed properly. Clear signage on bins, separation of different materials and advice on emptying packaging before recycling will all help ensure it reaches the recyclers in a good condition.”

“The OPRL label clearly shows which packaging is recyclable and which is not. Train staff to look for labels and ensure that containers are also labelled. We know from our research that people are less likely to recycle if they are confused about what to do or it’s not straightforward for them. Clear signage around bins and designing a system that is easy for staff to use will help to overcome these barriers and make recycling one of their everyday activities.”

Rachael Kiss, head of marketing at Alliance Online, also stresses the importance of clear signage for recycling: “Summer is one of the busiest trading periods for hospitality, which naturally means waste volumes increase as well. During a busy service, it’s easy for recyclable materials to end up in the wrong bins, particularly when teams are working under pressure or seasonal staff are unfamiliar with waste procedures,” she says.

“Simple operational changes, such as clearly labelled recycling stations, separate glass disposal points, and choosing more sustainable takeaway packaging, can make waste management much more efficient. Not only does this help reduce contamination, but it also supports businesses working towards their wider sustainability goals while keeping back-of-house operations running smoothly.”

3 Menu strategy and sourcing

It’s difficult to think of an aspect of running a restaurant that has a greater bearing on a venture’s overall environmental impact than what is actually on the menu. As Julie Owst, head of sustainability at national wholesaler Bidfood, points out, menu strategy shapes what is bought, how it is produced, how ingredients are used and how much is wasted. “A well-planned menu can prioritise seasonal produce, lower-impact proteins and more efficient use of ingredients,” she says.

Owst believes that restaurants looking to improve their sustainability credentials should start by understanding where the biggest impacts sit within their supply chain. “Working with suppliers that can provide transparency, responsible sourcing policies and practical data is essential,” she says. “Key considerations include seasonality, provenance, recognised certifications, responsible seafood sourcing, animal welfare, sustainable palm and soya policies, and supplier activity around biodiversity, water and regenerative farming.”

Bidfood is currently improving visibility through its partnership with CarbonCloud, which aims to calculate the initial carbon footprint of consumable products, while its produce arm Oliver Kay supports chefs with crop reports and seasonality information.

Careful planning

Bjørn-Erik Stabell, UK country director of the Norwegian Seafood Council, believes a more sustainable menu starts with careful planning. He recommends using ingredients across multiple dishes to improve stock rotation and help restaurants respond to changing demand. Reviewing sales and waste data can also help operators adjust purchasing and portion sizes to avoid unnecessary over-ordering.

When it comes to fish, smarter portioning and a whole-fish approach can unlock more value from every purchase while creating opportunities for new menu items.

“Restaurants looking to operate more sustainably while maximising value and reducing waste in the kitchen have many options when it comes to seafood,” he says. “Offcuts can be used to create fishcakes, burgers, croquettes or fish bites, while fish collars can be chargrilled and offered as a special. Fish skin crackling works well as a side dish or garnish, while fish cheeks can bring flavour to small plates. Fish bones and heads, meanwhile, can be used to create rich stocks for soups, ramen dishes, curries and sauces.”

Seafood sourcing remains a complex area, with changing guidance around which species are suitable to eat and where they come from. Stabell says restaurants should consider the species and origin of their seafood, its traceability, how the fishery is managed and whether suppliers can consistently deliver the required quality and specification.

“Norway has a long-established fisheries management system built on sustainability principles, bringing together science, regulation, industry and government,” he says. “This provides restaurants with greater visibility of the people, processes and systems behind their seafood and confidence in its journey from ocean to plate.”

Getting the communications right

While sustainability is increasingly important to consumers, it still ranks behind more immediate considerations such as taste, cost and nutrition, according to recent data from Sustainable Nutrition. The same research found that affordability remains the biggest barrier, with 56% citing cost as the main obstacle to choosing more sustainable food options.

With this in mind, Sean Deane, market specialist at Bord Bia, says restaurants should clearly communicate the value behind sustainable choices. “High-quality, sustainably sourced ingredients that are backed by trusted quality assurance schemes can help justify a premium, giving diners confidence that they are paying for genuine quality, provenance and sustainability,” he says.

For restaurants, the challenge is not simply sourcing better ingredients, but understanding their impact, using them efficiently and communicating the choices behind them in a way that resonates with customers.

4 Greener restaurant design

For many hospitality businesses, efforts to become more sustainable can often come once a venue is up and running, but for a truly green approach sustainability should be built into a location from the ground up.

“Sustainability should never feel like an afterthought or a box-ticking exercise. It needs to be considered from the beginning, from where materials come from to how long they will last and how much energy the restaurant will use each day,” says Jake Raslan, co-founder at hospitality design company Atelier Wren.

In a world that is becoming increasingly throwaway, restaurants that longevity can massively reduce the amount of energy they use in the long run. Atelier Wren, for example, prioritising durable, natural materials such as timber, stone, ceramics and brick slips, sourcing from the UK or Europe wherever possible. “A restaurant should be designed to age beautifully, rather than needing to be stripped out and replaced after only a few years,” says Raslan. “Ultimately, it is about creating a space that is thoughtful, responsible and built to last.”

There are also smaller things restaurants should consider to ensure their spaces are as sustainable as possible, including using LED lighting and PIR motion sensors in accessible toilets, storerooms and back-of-house areas, ensuring lights are only on when needed.

Another issue is temperature, and Raslan says as a designer he considers how comfortable a space can be without relying entirely on mechanical cooling. “Shading and careful control of natural light can prevent restaurants from overheating and reduce the need for air conditioning. As our climate changes, we have a responsibility to create spaces that are comfortable for guests and teams without placing an unnecessary burden on the environment.

“Recent heatwaves have shown that many British buildings are not prepared for a changing climate. We need to explore better shading, passive cooling and more intelligent systems that respond to how a space is actually being used.”

Whereas even a decade ago sustainability wasn’t high on restaurateurs’ agendas when creating new spaces, Raslan says times have changed. “There is far more awareness than there once was, particularly in major developments where restaurants may be required to meet a BREEAM sustainability rating (a method used to measure and score the environmental performance of buildings and infrastructure).”

That said, he believes sustainability is still not approached consistently across the industry and that more needs to be done. “Restaurant operators are facing enormous financial pressure, with rising construction, labour, food, transport and energy costs. It is understandable that immediate commercial concerns take priority, but sustainability cannot become something we only consider when budgets are generous.

“When clients are genuinely passionate about sustainability, that enthusiasm filters through the entire project team. It becomes a shared priority, encouraging designers, contractors, suppliers and craftspeople to work harder, question familiar methods and seek better solutions. The strongest results come when everyone is invested in the same goal from the outset.”

5 Efficient kitchen equipment

Investing in sustainable commercial kitchen equipment is not simply a matter of reducing environmental impact; it can also improve profitability, efficiency and day-to-day operations. The difference between equipment types can be significant. Induction cooktops, for example, transfer up to 90% of heat energy directly to the pan, compared with around 40% for open gas burners. Switching to induction can reduce energy costs while also helping to keep staff cooler and lowering ventilation requirements by preventing excess heat from escaping into the kitchen.

Similarly, high-efficiency refrigeration and warewashing equipment can use dramatically less energy than lower-cost alternatives, while advanced oil-filtering systems can extend the life of cooking oil, reducing one of the biggest ongoing costs in fryer-heavy kitchens.

One factor that is often overlooked by equipment buyers is that the environmental impact of kitchen equipment is not only determined by how efficiently it operates, but also by how long it lasts. Replacing the same piece of equipment repeatedly creates additional waste and resource use.

When investing in new equipment, Kat Cooper, project director at equipment supplier Bonzer, recommends that operators consider questions such as: will this still be working in 10 years, can it be repaired rather than replaced, does it genuinely improve efficiency during service, and does it support employees in their daily work?

“At Bonzer, we’ve always believed that durability is sustainability. Some of our products remain in daily commercial use for well over 10 years, demonstrating that engineering products to last is one of the most effective ways to reduce waste and be sustainable,” she says.

Features to look out for

Mark Conron, group head of customer communications at Nisbets UK, says key features to consider when buying new equipment include effective insulation, automatic switch-off functions on cooking appliances and more sustainable refrigerants, such as R290 gas, in refrigeration. Operators should also consider energy ratings, with A and B-rated appliances typically offering the greatest efficiency and lowest running costs.

Kitchen design can have an equally important impact on energy use. Refrigeration units positioned close to cooking equipment must work harder in warmer ambient temperatures, increasing energy consumption and putting additional strain on the equipment. Keeping hot and cold areas separate wherever possible can improve efficiency.

“In smaller kitchens where it may be harder to keep refrigeration units away from hot appliances, operators should consider the climate class of their refrigeration,” Conron adds. “This ranking highlights the external temperature that the unit is designed to operate in.”