International catering waste (ICW)

On this page:

• Background
• General Requirements in the Control Regulation
• What is meant by means of transport operating internationally?
• Who has responsibility to ensure that ICW is disposed of into the correct waste stream?
• If ship stores are cleaned and disinfected, will any stores from the EU loaded subsequently be considered ICW?
• If an aircraft’s galley and stores are cleaned and disinfected, will any stores from the EU loaded subsequently be considered ICW?

Background

This guidance provides information about the Control Regulations and their impact on the disposal of catering waste from all vessels including aircraft, ships, yachts, boats, vehicles and pleasure craft belonging to commercial companies, private individuals or the armed forces.

The catering waste produced from these vessels falls into two distinct risk categories, depending on the journey made by the vessel. These are:

• high risk category 1 International Catering Waste (ICW) – from means of transport operating internationally (i.e. outside of the EU)
• low risk category 3 catering waste – from means of transport not operating internationally (i.e. within the EU).

See below for a more detailed definition of “means of operating internationally.”

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General Requirements in the Control Regulation

ICW is defined as catering waste that originates from means of transport operating internationally (i.e. outside of the EU). ICW is considered to be high risk category 1 animal by-product (ABP).

ICW is subject to strict handling and disposal controls under the Control Regulation, in order to prevent the introduction of exotic notifiable diseases, such as Foot and Mouth disease, into the UK. There is a risk that disease could be spread if farmed or feral animals are able to come into contact with ICW and the legislation establishes controls which are designed to minimise this risk.

Catering waste is defined in Annex 1 (22) of the Implementing Regulation as ‘All waste food, including used cooking oil originating in restaurants, catering facilities and kitchens including central kitchens and household kitchens’. All foodstuffs in stores, which are destined for human consumption on board a vessel are determined to be part of the catering facilities.

Under Article 4 of the Control Regulation, as soon as operators generate ABPs or derived products, they shall identify them and ensure that they are dealt with in accordance with the Control Regulation.

All food normally prepared for consumption in a kitchen or catering facility (including associated food stores), becomes catering waste on a vessel, when it is no longer intended for human consumption i.e. when it is disposed of into a waste bin or a plastic bag. The waste food may have originated from:

• food prepared on board a vessel
• food brought onto a vessel by outside caterers
• or by passengers or crew from their own private kitchens, retailers, fast food outlets etc.

This includes all food products prepared or stored in a kitchen or catering facility irrespective of whether they are of animal origin or not, on the basis that contamination of food products not of animal origin can occur during all stages of storage, food preparation or consumption, with the exception of sealed packages of confectionary goods, crisp type products, nuts and cold drinks (excluding milk and milk/yogurt based drinks), unless these products are soiled or have been mixed with other catering waste.

Catering waste from means of transport only operating within the EU can be handled in the same way as domestic catering waste. Domestic catering waste can be:

• treated in an ABP-approved compost, biogas or rendering plant
• incinerated
• applied to land, as long as farm animals and vermin cannot access it. Good practice to avoid farm animal and vermin access would be to deeply plough it in to arable, horticultural or non-agricultural land and to avoid reseeding for pasture use until the material has fully rotted down in the next growing season
• buried in landfill under the control of Environmental/ Waste legislation and Domestic Regulations
• treated in a biodiesel plant (fat fraction as in Used Cooking Oil). If the plant is only receiving untreated catering waste, as in Used Cooking Oil sourced from catering sources, it does not need approval under the Control Regulations, but would be subject to environmental controls.

Under Article 12 of the Control Regulation, Category 1 ABP can only be disposed of in the following ways in order of waste hierarchy:

• used for the manufacture of derived products referred to in Articles 33, 34 and 36 of the Control Regulation and placed on the market in accordance with those articles. This would include Used Cooking Oil (ICW) intended for the production of biodiesel in a plant approved under the ABP Regulations.
• used as a fuel for combustion, with or without prior processing
• by co-incineration with energy recovery (as for incineration below)
• as waste by incineration:
  - directly without prior processing
  - following processing (methods 1-5) and permanent marking by use of Glyceryl Tri-Heptanoate (GTH).
• disposal by pressure sterilisation and deep burial in an authorised landfill
• in the case of ICW, disposal by deep burial in an authorised landfill. This is the only type of category 1 ABP, which can be disposed of in this way. No pre-treatment is required.

General requirements apply under the Control Regulation to the use of commercial documents, identification and record keeping.

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What is meant by means of transport operating internationally?

GB authorities interpret ‘means of transport operating internationally’ to include vessels, which have landed on territory outside of the EU or are operating in non-EU waters. This includes vessels which have:

• returned to other EU countries before traveling to GB, after having landed on territory outside the EU or having operated in non-EU waters
• been fully provisioned in the EU for the entire journey (there and back), which takes the vessel outside the EU. This is because there is no reliable method for establishing that non-EU stores were not taken on-board or that passengers have not brought on board their own provisions during the non-EU part of the journey.

However, if appropriate areas of the vessel, such as galley and stores, are cleansed and disinfected on returning to the EU and all waste on board has been disposed of as ICW and then is re-provisioned with EU compliant food, subsequent waste (whilst the vessel remains in EU waters/airspace) is not considered as ICW and can be treated as domestic catering waste.

Means of transport operating internationally would also include catering waste from vehicles, which have traveled from Third Countries via ferry into the UK.

• Once waste is considered as ICW, it remains ICW until disposed of appropriately.

GB interprets that catering waste from submarines and fishing vessels, provided they do not land in territories outside the EU and are not re-provisioned on the voyage, outside EU waters does not constitute ICW.

Countries which are not part of the EU, but are considered to be a part of Europe geographically and which have an agreement with the European Commission are normally treated as Member States. These countries are Andorra, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Vatican City, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar.

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Who has responsibility to ensure that ICW is disposed of into the correct waste stream?

Under the ABP Regulations the generator of the ABP (in this case ICW) has responsibility to ensure that the ABP(ICW) is correctly identified and disposed of according to the Regulation. This could be the commercial business operating, private individual owning, or the armed forces responsible for the vessel. The master of a merchant boat, ship or fishing vessel has specific responsibilities for waste (see below). The business operating the vessel may delegate responsibility to a company offloading the vessel, or to a port authority to deal with as per their waste management plan, but the generator of the waste has ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the waste food is identified and disposed of according to the Control Regulation (as ICW where appropriate), including the requirements for use of commercial documentation and record keeping. There is therefore a duty of care on the generator to audit businesses working on their behalf to ensure that the disposal is taking place according to the Control Regulation.

Specific guidance for owners of ships, boats, harbour's, terminals and marinas
Under the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Port Waste Reception Facilities) Regulations 2003, referred to as the ‘Merchant Shipping Order’:

• every harbour authority and terminal operator must provide waste reception facilities adequate to meet the needs of ships normally using the harbour or terminal in question
• the Merchant Shipping Order does not apply to warships, naval auxiliary or other ships owned or operated by the State
• the harbour authority must prepare a waste management plan with respect to the provision and use of those facilities by ships using the harbour. The plan is approved by the Marine and Coastguard Agency (MCA). Under this plan the port must provide the necessary information, procedures, contracts, containers or equipment to deal with ICW, in line with the Control Regulation
• the master of a ship calling at a harbour or terminal must ensure that before the ship leaves the harbour or terminal all ship-generated waste is delivered to a waste reception facility. A ship may proceed to the next port without delivering ship-generated waste, if it follows from information, which has to be notified to the harbour authority by the ship’s master, that there is sufficient storage capacity for the waste ( including ship’s waste generated) for the next leg of the journey. Ship-generated waste includes ‘garbage’, which includes victuals. Victuals is another term for food.
  

The ports, harbour's, marinas or boatyards requiring waste reception facilities and a port waste management plan under the Merchant Shipping Order include:

• ports where coasters load or discharge cargo
• passenger vessel operations
• larger terminals
• commercial marinas;
• bases for commercial fishing activities
• fish farm jetties where fish carriers berth
• marinas and sailing clubs from which yachts may go to sea for more than a day and so are likely to generate waste, and which charge a mooring or berthing fee.

Further information is avaliable on the Maritime and Coastguard Agency website.

Any port, harbour or marina, where vessels may land, having traveled outside the EU at any point, will require waste stream facilities to cope with ICW, which will need to be separate from other waste destined for landfill, unless the other landfill destined waste is mixed with ICW and it is all treated as category 1 material.

Any port, harbour or marina, where vessels may land having traveled only within the EU or from within the UK will require waste stream facilities to cope with ordinary catering waste, as well as other generated wastes.

Naval dockyards and bases will require similar facilities in order to comply with the Control Regulation.

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If ship stores are cleaned and disinfected, will any stores from the EU loaded subsequently be considered ICW?

No. If a declaration from the Ship’s Master (or authorised representative) stating that the ship’s stores have been completely emptied, cleaned, disinfected and re-stocked in the EU is provided, catering waste from these supplies would not be considered to be Category 1 international catering waste, whilst the vessel remains in EU waters (see above exception re submarines & fishing vessels).

Annex A contains a model declaration, which should be filled out in full by the Ship’s Master, if he/she is taking advantage of this option. The completed declaration must be handed to the port, harbour, marina, boatyard or naval yard operator for audit by Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA).

Specific guidance for owners of airline, airplanes, airport operators and air force bases
Catering facilities includes caterers producing ready-to-eat meals for commercially operated airlines, privately owned or armed forces aircraft and galley areas, where food is prepared onboard.

The ultimate responsibility for disposing of ICW and catering waste is the generator of the ABP (in this case the business, individual or the armed forces owning or operating the aircraft). Airport operators may facilitate waste disposal by having facilities available on site and airlines or private individuals may delegate the responsibility for waste food disposal commercially to other businesses, such as catering companies and aircraft cleaning companies. Even though the work has been delegated, the generator of the ICW or catering waste will still have a duty of care to ensure that businesses operating on their behalf are in fact complying with the Control Regulation and that ABPs are being consigned from the airport in the correct waste stream, with commercial documentation and appropriate record keeping. ICW moved directly from the place of landing to a waste facility in another port or airport should be transported in accordance with the Control Regulation and accompanied by a commercial document.

Back returns i.e. on flights to non-EU countries, which are fully provisioned for the return journey in UK prior to take-off are considered as ICW on return to the UK. This is due to the risk of passengers bringing their own food onto the flight in the non-EU country and leaving remains for disposal via the on board catering facilities.

Further information on recycling
Many business operators are keen to take advantage of opportunities to:

• recycle materials, such as cans, plastic, glass, paper or card
• dispose of certain goods, such as confectionary, crisp type products, nuts, dried fruit, drinks etc in general landfill waste facilities.

The presence of confectionary goods, crisp type products, nuts, drinks in a bag of recycled materials would not prevent recycling, unless they have been visually soiled with catering waste. The presence of pots of honey, milk or milk products would prevent recycling of items in a bag, unless it can be guaranteed that the product has been treated in a treatment plant in the EU e.g. a milk processing plant.

Separation of recyclable items from catering waste or ICW must occur prior to entry into a waste bin or plastic bag. This means that recycling or other facilities must be available to take different waste streams on the vessel or on cleaning the vessel, to ensure early separation. Recyclable items must not contain or be soiled with ICW including milk products, unless the milk product can be guaranteed to originate from a treatment plant in the EU.

All business operators responsible for the disposal of waste from vessels need to have protocols in place to ensure that:

• all recyclable or general waste containing or contaminated with catering waste or ICW is disposed of into the correct waste stream. Bags of recyclable items containing for example pots of milk originating from treatment plants outside the EU or plastic cups soiled with hot drinks containing milk originating from treatment plants outside the EU will need to be disposed of as ICW
• waste bags from international flights are not diverted into waste streams for bags from EU flights.
  

This may be achieved using colour-coded and transparent bags to enable easy visual inspection, satisfactory staff training, audit systems and HACCP plans.

Nb: Milk and milk products originating from treatment plants outside the EU are considered high risk, due to the potential risk of presence of Foot and Mouth Disease virus in the milk. Single pasteurisation and single UHT treatment are not considered to be effective in inactivating the virus. Under the Implementing Regulation among several treatment options for milk/ milk products, pasteurisation treatment carried out twice or drying and further heat treatment to at least 72°C are considered as effective for UHT and pasteurised milk. Hot water added to hot drinks on planes may not always reach effective virus inactivating temperatures.

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If an aircraft’s galley and stores are cleaned and disinfected, will any stores from the EU loaded subsequently be considered ICW?

For commercial airlines - provided waste food and any stores of unused food are removed from the plane following each flight to non-European destinations and the galley is cleansed and disinfected, new stores can be considered as EU loaded and no declaration is required.

For private and military aircraft - if a declaration stating that the aircraft’s galley and stores have been completely emptied, cleaned, disinfected and re-stocked in the EU is provided, catering waste from these supplies would not be considered to be ICW, whilst the plane remains in the EU.

Annex A can be used as per the instructions above to Ship’s Masters. For military air bases the declaration should be kept by the base for audit by AHVLA. For private operators wishing to take advantage of this option, the declaration should either be left with the airport operator, where arrangements have been made with AHVLA to collect for audit or be sent to the local Regional or Divisional AHVLA Office responsible for that airport.

Handling, storage and transport of ICW and catering waste
Once offloaded from the vessel, ICW must be placed in a dedicated, covered, leak proof skip or other suitable container. It should be transported without undue delay or by agreement with the local Regional or Divisional AHVLA Office.

The skip or container must be clearly identified with the following wording, ‘Category 1 - For Disposal Only’. Good practice would identify the skip as being for ICW in a number of languages.

Any vehicles or skips/containers containing ICW should be cleansed and disinfected with a Defra approved disinfectant following each use, unless the vehicle, skip or container is dedicated to ICW, in which case it must be cleaned regularly, at intervals agreed with an AHVLA inspector.

Compactors can be used to reduce the volume of waste, provided that they are under cover and there are controls on the liquid run-off from the compactor, as agreed with AHVLA. (Nb- Any open areas contaminated by the run-off must be cleansed and disinfected after use). The requirement to be located under cover may not apply to sealed units, provided this is agreed with an AHVLA inspector. Compactor vehicles are currently not considered suitable for handling ICW due to concerns about the control of liquid run-off.

Annex VIII of the Implementing Regulations details the conditions for storage and transport of ABPs.

Transporters of ICW from a port, harbour, marina or airport must be registered as a Waste Carrier by the Environment Agency and as an ABP operator with AHVLA by contacting the local Regional or Divisional AHVLA.

Detailed requirements on the format, use of commercial documents and record keeping can be found on our Transport, documents and records page.

Waste management, disposal and environmental protection legislation
Operators must also satisfy the controls and requirements for environmental protection, waste management and disposal, which are enforced by the Environment Agency. Operators can find further information on the Environment Agency website or can contact the Environment Agency for further advice via the National Customer Contact Centre on 08708 506506 (open Mon. –Fri. 8:00am -6:00pm).

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