et’s face it: Food and beverage operations generate a lot of waste. The processes associated with receiving, storing, preparing, serving, and cleaning up generate an assortment of waste products and require good management practices (GMP).

How we handle large volumes of operational waste (waste stream management) must be an integral part of HACCP-based food safety programs. Safe handling and timely and proper disposal reduce the potential for recontaminating products and creating a food source for flies, rodents, and other pests, as well as a growth medium for bacteria.

Consider:
• Is my operation minimizing the level of waste we generate?

• Do we handle our waste stream in an environmentally friendly manner?

• Are we minimizing the risks of recontamination within our internal environment?

• Are we reducing the risks of creating a food source for vermin and supporting bacterial growth that may be reintroduced into the internal food supply?

Let’s look at waste stream management as it relates to food safety and public health. We’ll start in the food production area where raw meat, fish, poultry trimmings, vegetable peelings, paper and plastic packaging, metals, plastics, glass, and cooked food waste are generated. If we do a hazard analysis from this list, raw products have the highest bacterial load and the most potential for spreading contamination from the point of preparation to the point of disposal in a dumpster or compactor. If an operation has isolated functions (i.e., meat or fish preparation), the hazardous load is more isolated but more concentrated.

1. Consider how employees interact with a waste receptacle.
Okay, call it a trash can. When in the food production or service areas, watch the staff to see if their hands, cutting boards, or other utensils come in contact with the waste receptacle. It won’t be long before they reposition the can using a gloved or bare hand—an opportunity for classic cross-contamination and introduction of hazards into a food processing system.

If bacteria glowed bright green in a lighted room, we could illustrate how much contamination is on waste receptacles and how easy it is to contaminate them. Personnel handling trash must be trained to have minimal contact with these areas as they complete their duties. Food processing should never be done on or over a trash can, nor should a trash can be used as a staging area for service personnel.

While I hate to add more plastics to the waste stream, I suggest double bagging cans where the waste has a high proportion of liquid waste and the potential for drips, or where “blow-outs” might occur before the waste makes it to the outside waste holding area. This is especially true with raw waste.

How does staff handle a spill from a bag of waste, especially if it occurs within the production or service areas? Do they clean and sanitize the area immediately? What cleaning and sanitizing tools are used?

2.Wash and sanitize cans and recycling bins often.
Isolate this activity to prevent more contamination from run-off. Hot water with detergent, complete rinsing, and follow- up with a sanitizer are important in reducing bacterial load and associated smells. If cans have rolling bases, pay special attention to those areas. Also have a bottle of sanitizer available to spray on the inside edges and handles of cans before relining them. Clean transport carts and rolling bins used to handle trash regularly. Rolling bins should be checked to ensure they are watertight as they travel within the operation. This is easily checked during the initial stages of the washing process.

3.Waste from restrooms requires special handling.
Personnel handling food and beverage waste and restroom waste must be trained to handle restroom waste in a safe and sanitary manner. A trip into the restrooms should be followed by a glove change and hand washing. And transport carts used for restrooms should not travel into kitchens.

Your exterior waste compacting and/or holding areas are the “buffet area” for insects, rodents, and other vermin. Installation of pads where dumpsters and compactors will be located must be planned ahead. Will refuse be trapped around them? Will waste water from cleaning run off in an acceptable manner? Can you clean under them?

Keeping these potential food source areas covered and clean is critical. Minimizing potential food sources keeps pests headed down the street to your competitor who has lower standards than you. Put these areas on a regular cleaning schedule. Clean up spills as they occur. Check containers for leaks. Be sure lids work. Restrict access to these areas. Be sure you clean these areas using hot water under pressure or steam. Control run-off from this cleaning.

The key to controlling the spread of potential contamination and attracting unwanted pests from the waste stream we generate is proactive management and continual monitoring. Follow the flow of refuse, recyclables, and returnable items in your operation and see where there is potential for recontamination and pest harborages. Train your employees to treat waste properly. Respect it for what it is and handle it as if it might be a hazard. It is.