By law, every business in Scotland including guest houses, self-catering accommodation and applicable B&B’s have a legal responsibility for the waste they generate.
Are you a holiday accommodation owner and should you be complying with the waste regulations?.
The Law
Holiday accommodation owners must ensure they store, transfer, transport and dispose of their business waste without harming the environment.
Business waste must not be disposed of within public litter bins, domestic waste bins, recycling points or at recycling centres. Business waste should be transferred to a registered waste contractor.
For more information on your duty of care, please visit our webpage Duty of Care - Your Waste Responsibilities.
In addition, all holiday accommodations in Scotland must separate waste for recycling.
The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 require guest houses, self-catering accommodations and applicable B&B’s to take all reasonable steps to separate the following materials for collection and recycling:
Where the holiday accommodation provides bins/containers for the collection of recyclable waste, it is expected that suitable recycling facilities are made available. As a minimum you should provide:
Holiday Accommodation Food Waste
The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 also require food businesses, including guest houses and applicable B&B’s in most areas producing over 5 kg of food waste per week to take all reasonable steps to ensure food waste is separately collected *
*However, self-catering accommodations is not defined as a ‘food business’ and therefore not legally required to provide facilities to segregate food waste, although it is encouraged.
Some rural guest houses and B&B’s may be exempt from the food requirements. Use the rural postcode checker to check if you are in an exempted area.