July 2014 - Sustainability
Biopac joins SRA for "Too Good To Waste" Campaign to reduce food waste
Local authorities across the UK should follow Oxfordshire's lead, providing restaurants with free take home boxes, so they can reduce their food waste and diners can enjoy their leftovers.
That's the message from the Sustainable Restaurant Association, the originators of the Too Good To Waste campaign, now being rolled out by Oxfordshire County Council in 100 restaurants, and eco friendly packaging company Biopac, the suppliers of the 'Take Me Home' boxes.
Mark Linehan, Managing Director of the SRA, said: "These simple, recycled, compostable boxes, provide the perfect means to deliver a simple message, transport a tasty meal, and help restaurants to throw away less food. Diners tell us that food waste is the sustainability issue that matters most when they're eating out, so this is a brilliant way to show their customers they're addressing it."
The SRA ran the initial Too Good To Waste campaign in London in 2011 in response to its own findings that the average restaurant throws out 21 tonnes of food a year and that embarrassment is the main reason more diners don't ask to take food home. About a third of all restaurant food waste, or seven tonnes (the weight of a London bus), is swept directly from diners' plates into the bin.
Mark Brigden, Technical Director at Biopac, said: "This is a great initiative for a local authority to work with local businesses to ultimately reduce the amount of food waste. We are proud to have been involved in this project and encourage other local authorities to do the same."
Biopac manufactured and printed 25,000 boxes for the Oxfordshire campaign, distributing a carton of 250 boxes to all participating restaurants.
ENDS
Councils can contact Biopac directly on 01386 555 777 or email info@biopac.co.uk to order Take Me Home boxes and get in touch with the SRA via email hello@thesra.org or calling 020 7479 4224 to discuss setting up a Too Good To Waste campaign in their area.
For further information, please contact:
Karen Randall, Biopac: 07908 610 190 karen@sixothree.co.uk
Tom Tanner, SRA: 020 7479 4235 / 07976 288636 tom@thesra.org
Sustainable Restaurant Association's (SRA) www.thesra.org
The Sustainable Restaurant Association's (SRA) Rating is regarded as the Michelin Stars of Sustainability. It recognises the most sustainable restaurants in the UK and across the world, and gives diners a simple means of finding places to eat in that match their values. As the leading authority on sustainability across the hospitality and food service sector, the SRA also provides expert advice to restaurants, pubs, hotels, cafés and caterers.
Biopac is the leading UK developer and supplier of environmentally responsible packaging and catering disposables and is the supplier of Oxfordshire County Council's 100% biodegradable and compostable 'Take Me Home' box www.toogood-towaste.co.uk/oxfordshire. The boxes are manufactured and printed in the UK by Biopac.
Biopac was approached by LCMB which is delivering the project management aspect of the campaign and is working alongside OCC to implement this project throughout Oxfordshire.
"LCMB was looking for an environmentally friendly and cost effective 'Take me Home' box for the Oxfordshire County Council's 'Too Good To Waste Oxfordshire' Campaign. Biopac's Kraft boxes represented the best value for money and had the right environmental credentials. The boxes look good." Sam Brown, Project Manager at LCMB.
The boxes are made from wood pulp that is produced from sustainable forests in Europe and coated with a compostable material to render them leak proof. They are therefore functional and sustainable and, when they've reached the end of their life, can be fully composted, so are very kind to the environment.
www.biopac.co.uk
