Customer Spotlight: Airports Going Green

all news, case studies, customers, food waste and recycling, uncategorized

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

all news, case studies, customers, food waste and recycling

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

all news, environment, events, food waste and recycling

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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Why soils matter

all news, environment, food waste and recycling

Soils and climate change

Poor soils fuel climate change. There is three times more carbon in the soil than in the atmosphere, and this carbon is released in land degradation.

Land degradation is the process by which the quality of the land is affected by human activity.  According the recent Global Assessment carried out by Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), land degradation is responsible for annual global emissions of up to 4.4 billion tonnes of CO2. It releases carbon stored in the soil and it effects the growth of plants, reducing their intake of carbon from the atmosphere.

IPBES’s Global Assessment states that, unless we reduce and reverse land degradation, it is projected that by 2050:

  • 50% of wild creatures will be lost,
  • human migration of people from the driest lands will rise,
  • and crop yields may reduce by up to 50% in some regions.

Addressing land degradation and climate change

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change targeted a long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2° above pre-industrial levels. Tackling land degradation could provide over 1/3 of the most cost-effective greenhouse gas mitigation activities needed by 2030 to achieve this goal.

Climate change and land degradation should be addressed together with similar urgency.

According to IPBES:

“Urgent action must be taken to halt, reduce and reverse land degradation. The longer we delay the more costly and difficult restoration becomes. The cost of inaction is at least three times higher than the cost of action. And the benefits of land restoration are many times more valuable than the costs.”

Toil for soil

Among other actions, Vegware believes we can take steps to reduce soil loss and improve soil health in crop lands. Composting used Vegware returns nutrients to the soil, and has the added benefit of improving soil structure, reducing the risk of floods. Our US Zero Waste Director connects clients to local composting collectors and commercial composting facilities, so that used Vegware can be composted with food scraps. Get in touch to learn more.

Vegware Packaging Inc – now recruiting for a leadership role

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We are excited to share that Vegware is recruiting to fill a leadership role in our progressive and fast-growing environmentally-focused start-up based in Huntington Beach, California.

This is a truly unique opportunity for a talented and ambitious individual to develop on career successes and be part of building the US operation for the European market leader in compostable foodservice disposables. Responsibilities include planning, directing, and coordinating Vegware’s sales, marketing and logistical operations in the United States. 

You will be immersed in a fast-growing, environmentally-focused sector, expected to engage with key clients as well as exercise a wide latitude of discretionary decision-making authority, either reporting to the VP of Operations or CEO. This is a key role and vital to the success of our fledgling US operation.

If you would like to be part of Vegware’s exciting mission, please send us your resume and set out your reasons for applying in a covering letter to us.recruitment@vegware.com. If you would like the full job description or need any further information then just email us at the same address.

Compost Manufacturing Alliance officially approves Vegware for quality compost

all news, environment, food waste and recycling, uncategorized

Vegware announces today it has received the Compost Manufacturing Alliance (CMA) approval on a wide range of its plant-based compostable foodservice packaging. This provides official recognition and acceptance of the Vegware products as compostable by both CMA-I facilities and Cedar Grove’s covered processing system.

Testing compostables


The CMA and its affiliated partner, Cedar Grove Composting in Washington State, field testing results demonstrate that products manufactured by Vegware are acceptable in operations and processes.

The CMA is a partnership of the top U.S. compost manufacturers, providing field validation of compostable feed stocks within real world processing technologies. Cedar Grove Composting is a Seattle-based, family-owned business producing nutrient-rich compost.

As composting collections and processing grows in the US and globally, ensuring foodservice packaging works as feedstock in modern large-scale composting facilities is essential. This way, operations at each step of the organics recycling process runs smoothly.

Vegware approved

This official recognition allows access to the CMA “Composter Approved” logo. The “Composter Approved” logo signals nationwide processing opportunities to create quality compost from Vegware’s wide range of plant-based compostable foodservice packaging.

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