Delivered veg box scheme helps cut packaging

One thing that makes quite a difference for my packaging waste, I believe, is that I use an organic box scheme, which in my case is Abel and Cole.

The bin men already benefit from this, as the cardboard box (for veg) and polystyrene box (for chilled stuff - meat, milk etc) that my delivery comes in taken back the following week to be re-used. Also, the packaging for things like tomatoes is in compostable trays, with bio-degradeable film.

However, doing the challange has had me look at what I get even more closely though. I wondered about the wrapping around my bread, and the window in the packaging for my muesli. Here's the answer I got:

Dear Mr Upstone,

Thank you for your email. We are delighted to hear you are taking part in the Zero waster Challenge, it certainly sounds like an excellent initiative.

Making sure our packaging is kept to a minimum and completely recyclable is one of our primary concerns and something we do a lot of work on. Currently all plastic used with our fruit and vegetables can be composted and we are working on making this the case for other items too. With the meat we offer the plastic has to be sturdier to keep in the juices so unfortunately is not recyclable at this time. You mention the Superfood Muesli packaging and you can put this in the compost, however the plastic packaging for the bread cannot be. We get the bread from independent bakers who provide the packaging themselves so the final decision about the packaging they use is with them. We do have a close working relationship with our bakers and do of course remind them of our goals regarding recycling whenever possible.

We also take other steps to ensure our waste is kept to a minimum, such as turning any cool boxes that we deliver chilled items in that are no longer usable into wall cavities. Any leftover fruit or vegetables we have go to Longleat Safari Park to be enjoyed by the animals and we of course collect all our delivery boxes and use them again.

I hope this helps, and we wish you the best of luck with your challenge, do keep us informed on how it is going. If there is anything more we can do to help, or if you require any further information do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,

Christopher

If only all our retailers were as ambitious. Perhaps we can all give them some encouragement. What I think Abel and Cole are showing is that we could easily mandate bio-degradeable packaging for many items already.