The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s new Upstream Innovation guide features our compostable packaging collections with Paper Round. We’re highlighted as a circular economy solution for plastic, as London and Brighton’s first large-scale collection service for compostable packaging.  

Pioneering composting solutions

Now in its sixth month, our full service provides foodservice businesses with a practical waste management solution for catering disposables, which otherwise lack a quality recycling option. The service advances foodservice sustainability at a time when hygiene concerns are resulting in increased use of disposables. 

Education and engagement

We focus on education as a key tool for best practice and to prevent contamination of our compostable waste stream. Our route was officially launched in May 2020, following a 12-month pilot scheme at a dozen London sites – read more here.

Bill Swan, Paper Round’s Managing Director added, “Our trials uncovered the importance of engagement and education to keep contamination levels low. Before launching a composting service, we wanted to make sure that we had a system that would deliver a viable waste stream for processors. After testing with a range of customer types we are now confident that this is possible.” 

From cup to compost

Our partnership offers a full service of both setting up and monitoring the implementation of compostable materials to ensure a best practice system, as well as handling the collection and hauling to an in-vessel composting facility, enVar, Cambridgeshire, where it is transformed into compost in a seven-week cycle. 

“We are proud to have our partnership with Paper Round included in the Upstream Innovation guide. This publication is a timely reminder that businesses are already working to provide practical, large-scale solutions to the challenge of foodservice waste management. In the current environment disposables are in greater demand than ever, we are delighted to be highlighted as an example, rethinking the packaging business model,” shared our Environmental and Communications Director Lucy Frankel.

Upstream innovation is about preventing waste from being created in the first place. The guide provides the necessary tools and over 100 case studies from companies across a range of sectors. It aims to inspire and empower others to take action on upstream innovation and achieve a circular economy for plastic in which plastic stays in the economy and out of the environment.  

Find our case study on p147 of the full Upstream Innovation guide – plastics.emf.org/upstream