Recycling Large-scale
Recycling Large-scale commercial service for compostables for London and Brighton (UK) As foodservice shifts to more disposables for hygiene, a new composting partnership offers a sustainable waste management solution for businesses in London, Brighton, and Sussex. Recycling company Paper Round have partnered up with the global specialists in compostable disposables, Vegware, to launch the dedicated compostable packaging collection service. This follows on from a successful 12-month pilot scheme collecting from a dozen London sites. Paper Round are a total waste management company, servicing over 6,000 customers in London, Brighton and Sussex. Vegware are the specialists in plant-based compostable foodservice packaging, with an in-house Environmental team whose consultancy helps clients implement composting schemes. The new service will see Paper Round collect Vegware’s compostable packaging as a separate waste stream and sent to an in-vessel composting facility, enVar, in Cambridgeshire where it is transformed into compost in a 7-week cycle. Used in agriculture, horticulture and landscaping, compost provides soil with a slow release of vital nutrients and improves soil structure, reducing flood risk. As well as providing a separate waste stream, the partnership will focus on educating businesses on compostables and best practice recycling which the pilot found was key to making the service work. For instance, although leftover food residues are accepted, contamination from other recyclables and waste must be kept to minimal levels to meet the requirements of composting sites. The compost enVar produces is compliant with the PAS100 quality specification. In collaboration with Vegware, Paper Round can now support compostable scheme launches and provide training to minimise contamination, so the waste gets the best environmental outcome. Quality is checked by Paper Round with systematic audits at participating client sites. Commenting on the new service, Vegware’s Environmental and Communications Director Lucy Frankel said: “In the current environment disposables are in greater demand than ever, and sustainability is still paramount. We share Paper Round’s focus on quality source segregation and are pleased to see clients engaging with this issue.” Andy Sibley, Managing Director of enVar Composting Ltd received the waste from the trial scheme: “I am pleased with the way Vegware’s products work through enVar’s composting process and with the quality of the material we have received. Working together with Vegware, Paper Round and customers, we continue to reduce contamination through this exciting new waste stream.” Businesses in London, Brighton and Sussex interested in learning more, about compostable foodservice disposables and how they can be effectively composted, can catch up on the launch webinar online (https://bit.ly/ VWPRrecording). The webinar shares the learnings and data from the pilot scheme and explains the composting process. Alongside positive feedback from the participant sites, including corporate offices catered by bartlett mitchell, ISS Food Services, Lexington and Sodexo, and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, managed by Interserve FM. Bill Swan, Paper Round’s Managing Director added, “We are excited to launch this new product after successful trials with several Vegware customers. 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.” MT www.paper-round.co.uk | www.vegware.com 36 bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/20] Vol. 15
International After almost 15 years of creating and editing bioplastics MAGAZINE I am particularly happy and a bit proud that now bioplasticsMAGAZINE.pl was born. My esteemed colleague Wojciech Pawlikowski did a tremendous job to create a Polish language edition which also impresses with its different, modern appearance. In addition to selected articles and features from the global – English language – edition, bioplasticsMAGAZINE.pl also offers articles specially dedicated to the needs and requirements of the Polish readers. I’m sure that some of these articles will also find their way in the global edition. So, I am looking forward to continuing this fruitful cooperation and hope that our Polish speaking readers enjoy reading bioplasticsMAGAZINE.pl Michael Thielen Już niebawem Pełne polskie wydanie bioplastics MAGAZINE “A beautiful summary of the round anniversary” I thought when Michael asked me to write a few words addressed to the international reader. Exactly 10 years ago, for the first time, somewhere at the entrance to the most characteristic 7th pavilion of the K fair, I was handed a copy of a magazine I had only heard about before. Reading this magazine opened my eyes to the world of bioplastics, which was already in full bloom in many countries, while here, in Poland, we struggled with a lack of recycling, overfilled dumps and ignorance about bioplastics. Years of changes have passed, new regulations in waste management have been introduced, but I still had the impression that compared to countries where bioplastics are commonplace, there is something between fear and sometimes even reluctance to face technological changes in Poland. And this thought gave rise to a relationship with bioplastics MAGAZINE and the conviction that it is knowledge that underpins progress, knowledge reduces fears and finally, accessible and understandable information gives an opportunity to meet with new solutions. Hence the idea to edit the Polish version of bioplastics MAGAZINE in a country with an annual production of about 60 million tons of plastics, exports worth 10.5 billion € and employing 160 thousand people. In Poland, the demand for plastics has been comparable to that of the UK and Spain for several years, thus fighting for the 4th place in the demand for raw materials in Europe. However, we do not know yet if Poland is ready to turn this potential into the development of bioplastics. We will certainly be looking at this situation, which from both the economic and social point of view may turn out to be very dynamic. I invite you to read and follow the news from Poland. Wojciech Pawlikowski bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/20] Vol. 15 37
