The catering supplier hosted the forum specifically for national customers, looking at how operators in the catering and hospitality industry might best ‘embrace’ the resulting changes.
Joanna Gilroy, head of sustainability for Bunzl Catering and Hospitality Division, said: “How we deal with single-use packaging is going to have to change fast in response to new reform and legislation.
“We’re happy to be at the forefront of positive change on this issue, and we’re dedicated to bringing what we know to our customers and to share ideas on how, as an industry, we might embrace change and create a more sustainable future. Our customer forums provide an invaluable platform for education and discussion in the face of fast-paced changes in legislation.”
Throughout 2017 and 2018, Bunzl Catering Supplies has worked with its customers to understand their plastic packaging footprint and to help them reduce their environmental impact.
The business has been ‘instrumental’ in helping its customers to achieve this by recommending alternative material types and consolidating their food packaging ranges to either fully recyclable or fully compostable materials.
Discussion at the forums was focused on the newest legislation and reform changes and what impact they will have on individual businesses and the industry at large.
It learnt early on that waste from ‘single-use plastic is a shared problem’, so collaboration is required to find effective solutions.
Its forums provide a space for collaboration – looking at how the industry might better reduce, reuse and recycle.
In November 2018, Bunzl appointed Katie Bradbury, sustainability and packaging innovation manager, to the business, who will look to introduce a ‘wider range of sustainable products into the foodservice industry and develop more closed-loop systems for a wider variety of food packaging materials’.