Are You Getting the Best Price from Your Feed Waste?

Enviroverstock Ltd works with businesses across the food and manufacturing sectors to help unlock the hidden value in feed waste that is often overlooked.

In the UK, many factory waste streams can be used for animal feed, provided the producing site is registered as a feed business and operates in line with recognised feed safety requirements. This includes appropriate HACCP controls, segregation, and labelling. When managed correctly, materials that might otherwise be disposed of can be redirected into approved feed routes.

The greatest risk to feed waste value is contamination with Animal By-Products (ABPs). Once contamination occurs, material may no longer be suitable for feed use. By comparison, foreign bodies are assessed differently to human food standards and, when properly controlled, are less likely to automatically exclude material from feed routes.

Common feed waste streams include vegetable peelings, spent grains from brewing, and bakery products such as bread and biscuits. The UK food manufacturing sector produces millions of commercially prepared sandwiches each week, generating large volumes of bread ends and offcuts. While many businesses are content for this material to be removed at no cost, these streams can often hold real value.

Feed waste pricing is influenced by nutritional density, volume, and commodity markets. Vegetable waste is typically lower in value due to high water content, while bread and biscuits perform better due to their fat, protein, and carbohydrate content. Transport costs mean larger, consistent volumes usually achieve better returns, and feed prices often track wheat prices due to its role as a substitute ingredient.

Enviroverstock encourages businesses to submit their waste streams — particularly animal feed-suitable materials — via the waste map. Even smaller volumes can sometimes be paired with other collections to improve pricing, reduce transport-related emissions, and deliver better outcomes.