From July through September, food waste increases by around 30%. That’s not hearsay, it’s the result of year-long analysis across households, retailers, and the hospitality industry. The culprit? Warmer weather meets fresher food and busier schedules. Add a dose of heat, and suddenly your compost caddy’s working overtime.
What’s Behind the Seasonal Spike?
Social season, fuller bins
With schools out and gatherings on the rise, people cook and eat more — often away from home. That means more prep, more leftovers, and inevitably more food waste.
Fresh food, short shelf life
We tend to favour soft fruits, salads, and quick-cook meats in summer. But these items are fragile — they spoil quickly, especially when stored poorly or forgotten at the back of the fridge.
Heat speeds everything up
Rising temperatures don’t just make us sweat — they push food to decay faster. Something that lasted five days in April might turn sour in two during August.
Fridges under pressure
Retailers and hospitality venues face increased stock turnover and warmer environments. It’s harder to keep produce fresh — and that leads to more spoilage.
Cromwell offers a full range of food waste caddy liners, including both certified compostable liners and durable polythene liners — giving you the flexibility to manage food waste effectively, hygienically, and in line with your waste disposal setup.
Our compostable liners are EN13432-certified, and designed to break down cleanly alongside food waste in home and industrial composting.
Our polythene liners are tough and leak-resistant, a good solution for waste streams including Anaerobic Digestion.
Whichever you choose, both options help:
- Keep bins tidy and odour-free
- Simplify food waste separation, supporting the incoming Simpler Recycling rules
- Improve hygiene and make collections more efficient
Encourage Smarter Habits to Cut Food Waste
As food waste rises in summer, small behavioural changes can have a big impact. Whether you’re engaging local residents through council initiatives or supporting business customers through retail or wholesale channels, encouraging these simple habits can reduce waste, save money, and support sustainability goals:
Promote smarter shopping – Encourage households and businesses to plan meals and stock orders based on what’s realistically needed, rather than impulse buys influenced by sunny forecasts or seasonal trends.
Support proper food storage – Remind people to use shaded transport, chill bags, and organised refrigeration — at home, in hospitality, or in the workplace — to keep perishables fresh for longer.
Champion leftovers – Reinforce the value of repurposing excess food. Last night’s salad or BBQ extras can become tomorrow’s lunch, helping reduce edible waste.
Introduce FIFO thinking – Advocate the First In, First Out method in both homes and commercial kitchens. Rotating older stock to the front is a simple but effective way to prevent unnecessary spoilage.
These messages are easy to build into local awareness campaigns or point-of-sale advice for retailers and hospitality buyers — especially when paired with practical tools like Cromwell’s food waste caddy liners.
How to handle the food waste…
Even with the increase, food waste doesn’t have to end up rotting in a landfill, where the excess heat will only further impact its decomposition and strengthen the smells associated with it. Instead, segregation and recycling should always be the option when managing food waste. Start by separating food scraps from general waste by placing it into a separate bin lined with a compostable liner, which will make it easier (and more hygienic) to collect leftovers, peelings, and expired perishables. These can then be composted at home or placed in your council’s food waste bin if available.
Choosing to use food waste caddy liners ensures waste is collected cleanly and processed correctly—helping reduce contamination, improve recycling outcomes, and support compliance with upcoming mandatory food waste collections under the government’s Simpler Recycling legislation.
Looking for liners?
As the busy season approaches, now is the time to stock up. Here at Cromwell, we have a wide range of food waste liners, from 7L caddy size, to your 240L wheelie bin liners – all of which can help you to tackle the food surge this Summer. Get in touch with our team and keep your waste levels under control and focus on enjoying the sunshine instead.