River Cottage’s Spring Food Fair achieved a recycling rate of 72% by serving all food on Vegware compostable packaging.
Aiming to beat the UK event average of 15%, River Cottage trialled Vegware’s compostable packaging and recycling support. After the three-day event, 680kg of used takeaway packaging was composted with food waste at Viridor’s nearby composting facility. In less than 12 weeks this soil improver will be available to River Cottage’s gardens and local farmers.
Vegware’s short film shows how they did it.
Waste is a recent focus for River Cottage founder Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who caused a public outcry by revealing that only 1 in 400 UK coffee cups gets recycled. Most cups and used takeaway packaging instead goes to incineration or landfill, due to the challenge of recycling plastic-lined card with food contamination.
River Cottage’s mission to reduce waste led them to trial Vegware’s compostable packaging and recycling support.
Lucy Lomas, River Cottage Business Director says, “We are absolutely delighted with the recycling results from our Spring Food Fair. The key was getting everyone on board, from food traders at the event to our staff and most importantly our guests. The team at Vegware was fantastic and ensured all waste went in the correct bins through signage and communicating with customers. We are looking forward to our Festival in September where we hope to do even better!”
Vegware’s environmental team set River Cottage up with Viridor to collect and process the packaging and food waste at their nearby composting facility. As well as providing recycling advisors to oversee event recycling, Vegware also helped minimise contamination by creating clear bin signage and informative posters tailored to the event.
Having food traders on board with the compostables-only rule was vital, but Harry Boglione summed up their response: “I’m a farmer and a food trader, and I think it’s amazing that the packaging I’m using to serve my food on will become compost that I’ll eventually use on my crops.”
Recycling Consultant Eilidh Brunton leads Vegware’s environmental team. “We’re delighted to show River Cottage how foodservice and events can achieve such fantastic recycling rates,” she explains. “Our compostable packaging coupled with our recycling consultancy package is a tried and tested system helping foodservice and events divert waste from landfill or incineration.”
All of Vegware’s packaging is made from plants, not plastic. It’s designed to be recycled with food waste, meaning that no separation or cleaning of the food packaging is necessary. As well as being compostable, Vegware disposables are made from low-carbon, renewable materials.
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