NEPO works to reduce Single Use Plastics

8 Oct 2018 03:54 PM

NEPO recently hosted a regional meeting with suppliers and Member Authorities to discuss opportunities to reduce single use plastics within its Food category and beyond. The meeting identified a number of challenges for work in this area:

• Widely varying recycling policies which waste reduction charity WRAP estimates at approximately. 300 different recycling schemes in operation across England.
• The increased amount of household rubbish being rejected for recycling in England, which has increased by 84% over the past four years.
• The lack of supply chain capability to deliver high volumes of alternative products if required and the relatively high price as products are still being developed.

The meeting provided a forum to share best practice, and attendees heard of positive work being undertaken by suppliers to NEPO416 Milk & Dairy Products:

• Embleton Hall has introduced biodegradable straws to replace plastic alternatives on the NEPO 416 Milk and Dairy Products solution. The straws are 100% degradable, non-toxic and decompose between 3-6 months after being removed from their packaging. There is no additional cost for this change.
• The use of recyclable cartons in place of poly bottles, of which contained 12g of non-recyclable plastic each, has resulted in a saving of 33 tonnes of plastic per year across the region based on the current usage levels of 80,000 cartons per week.

NEPO will continue to work collaboratively to address these challenges and further updates will be provided. as the work progresses.