Vegware’s European Warehouse – successful first 6 months

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Our new European warehouse celebrates a successful first six months in operation. A partnership with the Raben Group, our Dutch warehouse is a central hub to better service mainland and Northern European clients. Our HQ is in Edinburgh; this new Eurozone logistics center is part of the company’s Brexit-readiness.

Located in Brabant, near the Dutch border with Germany and Belgium, the Raben location offers strong transport links throughout mainland Europe. This new warehouse joins  Vegware’s UK and US hubs already servicing Vegware clients in 70 countries worldwide.  

A third of Vegware’s sales are to outside the UK, with other European countries accounting for 87% of exports.  We had a 25% growth in European sales in 2018-2019. “We’re delighted to be able to better support our clients with quick service, with many European customers getting orders straight from our Dutch hub,” says Mark Badzmirowski, Vegware’s Sales Manager Europe. “It’s given us the opportunity to grow sales and allay our clients’ Brexit concerns. We’ve seen an increase in opportunities and sales, with new customers pleased we have a warehouse in mainland Europe.” 

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New Kraft Food Trays

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Serve street food in sustainable style with our new food trays!

Perfect for serving warm savory macaroni & cheese, loaded fries and nachos, chicken wings and corn dogs, or sweet treats like doughnuts, churros, and cookies.

Available in a variety of three sizes: Size 100 / 1lb, size 300 / 3lb, and size 500 / 5lb. Made from clay-coated paperboard – they are food safe and grease resistant.

A kraft board with Vegware’s striking Green Leaf pattern to promote your eco ethos. Clear on-product messaging and visual cue for ‘compostable’. For clients who compost, it can be used on matching posters and bin signage to simplify recycling and reduce contamination.

Award-winning quality by Vegware, made from plants. Commercially compostable with food waste where accepted.

Order yours today!

Recycle Week

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It’s Recycle Week! Vegware’s activity sheets help children recycle at home, school and on the go. Our Bin Detective sheets help young recyclers ‘Use it! Check it! Toss it!’ by highlighting the differences in packaging and which bin to put it in.  

Conventional foodservice packaging is a mix of materials, which is can be a challenge to recycle, meaning it often ends up in landfill. Compostables are designed to be recycled with food scraps where accepted, turning into nutrient-rich compost for local farmers’ fields. Composting is a form of recycling that keeps resources local. 

With coloring and sorting sheets, crosswords and word searches, Vegware’s activity sheets answer a wide range of questions about compost, compostables, material segregation and the importance of recycling. Helping recyclers use it, check it, bin it this recycling week and forever. 

Download Vegware’s Bin Detective sheet here

Customer Spotlight: Airports Going Green

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Teamwork makes the green work! 

Vegware helped Airports Going Green divert 634lbs of food scraps and used Vegware from landfill to create 159lbs of compost for Georgia farmers’ fields.  

The annual AGG conference brings together hundreds of aviation leaders, experts, and innovators from around the world to exchange sustainability knowledge. In its 11th year, the 2018 AGG was held at the Omni Hotel – CNN Center and hosted by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). 

Working with partners – for composting, food donation and waste, and recycling & sustainability – CompostNow, Goodr and Rubicon – Vegware’s Zero Waste Director, Julia Wetsein, prepared a full zero waste plan to help conference hosts meet their sustainability goal: Divert food scraps, unused food safe for human consumption, and used Vegware disposables away from landfill and to places where it can best help the local community while contributing to its circular economy. 

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Use it! Check it! Toss it! – new activity sheets

all news, environment, food waste and recycling

There are lots of questions we receive around composting from the youngest of recyclers – also known to us as future Bin Detectives!

What is compost? Why do we recycle? How do compostables help the environment? Which bin do I put them in?

Our new Bin Detective activity sheets answer all these questions, having young recyclers hunt out the answers. From coloring and sorting sheets, to crosswords and word jumbles, Vegware’s Bin Detective helps recyclers of all ages learn to use, check and toss packaging correctly.

The easy to read sheets are suitable for a wide range of ages, taking young recyclers through the difficulties of recycling mixed material food packaging and the benefits of compost. Plus, top facts on how much energy is saved by recycling your glass, metal, and plastic.

Create future Bin Detectives by downloading activity sheets here!

INDEPENDENT BRISTOL, UK, CAFE COMPOSTS ITS VEGWARE DISPOSABLES

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New case study! Independent Bristol café Spoke and Stringer has switched to Vegware and joined Close the Loop.

Close the Loop is Vegware’s own composting collection service, running in Bristol, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, UK. It collects used Vegware and food scraps from Vegware clients, which are then taken to a local composting facility at Rose Hill, Gloucestershire. Used Vegware is turned into nutrient-rich compost for local farmers’ fields.

Spoke and Stringer is conscious about the environment and does whatever possible to reduce waste. “That’s why we’ve chosen Vegware where we can close the loop on all our packaging,” says Emma Linzel, the Operations Manager at Spoke and Stringer.

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New film! Contract caterer Elior UK share why they chose Vegware

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To contract caterer Elior UK sustainability is immensely important. They have a big responsibility to ensure their sites can operate in the most sustainable way possible. In this new film, Elior share their reasons for choosing Vegware catering disposables:

Responsible catering disposables

Elior’s Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Charlotte Wright, says that, “Vegware gives us the option to have disposables in our business, without the concern of the damage on the environment as the result of the production of plastics.”

Minimising waste

Vegware’s products offer portion control for both the end-user and the kitchen staff, helping to minimise food waste. Andy Ferguson, Elior’s Contract Director, says “Switching to the Vegware cup enabled their client to take 1 million plastic lined cups out of the waste chain.”

Quality product

The Elior team are impressed by the range and quality of Vegware products. “It enhances the food that goes into it,” shares Steven Wells, General Manager, Elior.

Order your sustainable Vegware packaging here.

Join Vegware at the PAC-12 Sustainability Conference

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Our Zero waste Director, Julia Wetstein, is speaking at the upcoming Pac-12 Sustainability Conference, 25-26 June at The University of Washington, Washington. Julia will be presenting research, conducted by CMA and the University of Washington, on the benefits of utilising composting packaging to capture post-consumer waste. Register for the conference today!

Julia will be discussing compostables on a panel alongside experts from the Composting Manufacturing Alliance (CMA) and University of California, Berkeley. Julia has over 20 years experience in composting, agriculture and implementing zero waste programs. In the Vegware team, she bridges the gap between the foodservice and composting worlds. We catch up with her before the conference:

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