Our Environmental team have been crunching the numbers and have some fantastic news. Through Close the Loop, our trade waste collections for central belt Scotland, we hit 10,000 bins in 2023. We started Close the Loop in 2017 with a view to providing Scottish foodservices a closed loop solution for their used Vegware packaging and food waste. This is a landmark figure, for us and for compostable packaging more widely. The demand and viability of UK compostable packaging waste collections is clear. It shows that compostable packaging can fit in with existing waste infrastructure and, when it comes to composting Vegware. It also shows we know what we’re talking about!

Why composting is important

The UK generates 9.5 millions tonnes of food waste every year, with the vast majority ending up in landfill. What’s more, food waste sent to landfill accounts for 8% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions and 31% of methane emissions. In diverting this waste away from landfill, Close the Loop helps Scottish foodservices limit methane emissions.

It isn’t just about limiting emissions, however. Close the Loop turns the waste collected into high-grade compost in under 12 weeks. This compost is then used on Scottish fields and gardens: further capturing carbon, reducing flood risk and returning essential organic nutrients to the soil.

“Reaching 10,000 binloads of compostable packaging and food waste is an important milestone for our waste services. We took the service into a new era in 2023, with a rebrand, expansion of the coverage and a landmark amount of bins sent to compost. It shows that composting collections work and that Vegware can provide real results.”

Phoebe Russell, Waste Management Consultant, Vegware

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