Category: Waste reduction

Environmental sustainability is a pressing concern, and businesses across most industries are actively seeking ways to reduce waste and minimise their ecological footprint.

The retail sector must play a significant role in adopting sustainable practices due to its large-scale operations and consumption rate.

Retail waste can encompass everything from unsold products to packaging materials, and waste causes and streams vary significantly between businesses.

With increasing consumer awareness and demand for eco-friendly practices, implementing waste reduction strategies in retail has become more critical than ever.

Let’s look at eight practical methods for retailers to reduce waste and promote sustainability, starting with the logical step of a waste audit.

Continue reading Eight ways to reduce waste in the retail sector

School food waste is a significant issue that has plagued the UK’s educational institutions for decades.

If you’re wondering, ‘how much food do schools waste per year?’, you’re in for a shock.

55,408 tonnes of food waste is generated annually by primary schools in England and 24,974 tonnes by secondary schools. That’s a total food waste weight of 80,382 tonnes across England’s schools annually — meaning urgent action must be taken.

Let’s address the reasons behind school food waste before outlining solutions.

Continue reading How to reduce food waste in UK schools

With Halloween just around the corner, autumn festivities are in full swing.

Nothing says autumn like creamy hot chocolate, pumpkin spice lattes, and fallen orange leaves — except maybe a visit to the pumpkin patch. Wrapped up warm and wandering through a muddy field to find your perfect pumpkin really sets the autumn mood.

Here are some great places to go pumpkin picking in Yorkshire that you can visit and find your perfect pick.

Continue reading Where to pick your own pumpkins in Yorkshire

The kitchen is the heart of the home and often where we use and generate the most plastic waste. In fact, since its creation in 1907, plastic use has consumed much of the UK.

You’ll find plastic in many kitchen items, from single-use plastic packaging to plastic utensils, cling film, Tupperware, and plastic-infused tea bags.

In the UK, 82% of adults want to reduce the amount of single-use plastic they throw away. However, standing in a kitchen surrounded by plastic can feel overwhelming.

Continue reading Plastic free kitchen swaps

Each year, Plastic Free July encourages companies and individuals to analyse how much plastic they throw away. The campaign highlights the benefits of environmentally friendly packaging and reusable containers and prompts shoppers to reconsider their buying habits and purchase zero-waste products instead.

Continue reading Plastic Free July: Who produces the most plastic waste?

In a perfect world, all managers and employees would know how to reduce office waste, as well as the reasons why it’s important to do so.

Reducing office waste improves resource efficiency, cutting down on the cost of materials, and has a positive impact on the environment and on office waste management costs.

Continue reading 20 easy ways to reduce waste in the office

You may have heard the phrase ‘zero waste’ more of late.

Up and down the UK, consumers are seeking more eco-friendly ways to restock their everyday essentials – and this is where zero waste shops come in.

Continue reading How zero waste shops work: a beginner’s guide

Wearing your paper hat and sharing a festive-themed joke is a classic pastime around many a Christmas dinner table. Despite concerns around their impact on the environment, here in the UK, we pull over 154 million Christmas crackers each year, proving that the snap of the season is here to stay.

Yet there are ways to ensure our Christmas crackers are more eco-friendly. Recyclable and plastic-free crackers are now easy to find in stores and online, while many people have even taken to making their own eco-friendly Christmas crackers.

Take a look at Forge Recycling’s favourite eco alternatives to Christmas crackers for you to enjoy this merry season.

Continue reading Five eco-friendly Christmas cracker alternatives this festive season

As Christmas rolls around and we begin to dig out the box(es) of decorations, you may find yourself longing for a fresh festive look.

Continue reading Six zero-waste Christmas decorations to make at home

WRAP estimated that the UK created around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste in 2018, with 70 per cent of that total intended to be consumed by humans. This total doesn’t include the waste redistributed as animal feed or via charity and commercial routes.

While the 2018 figure was down from 10 million tonnes in 2015, I think we can all agree that action urgently needs to be taken to dramatically reduce the volume of food waste being created in this country.

Hospitality and food service contribute 12 per cent of the country’s total food wastage, which costs the sector approximately £682 million annually.

This blog post will explore why food waste in restaurants and cafes needs to be reduced and how that can be achieved.

Continue reading Reduce food waste in your restaurant or café in just 10 easy steps