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apetito - Case study: Zero waste to landfill

apetito has worked with WRAP on Waste Prevention Reviews as part of the company's ambition to send zero food and packaging waste to landfill.

apetito had previously used single-trip cardboard packaging to deliver multi portion food boxes to its hospital and care home clients. However both the company and its customers were keen to minimise the 1.2 million cases generated annually by this system.

In response to this, apetito invested in new reusable plastic crates for delivery of product replacing the previous corrugated cases. Initial fears of high replenishment costs as a result of product damage or theft of the trays proved unfounded. In fact the company estimates that the crates could last up to five years as a result of the strength of the materials selected for the job.

Operationally, the new crates have proved to have no negative impact on filling and packing efficiency compared to the corrugated cases. In fact product protection and storage capacity have both improved thereby reducing product damage and improving distribution efficiency. .The change to reusable crates has saved 112 tonnes of board pa equivalent to an estimated 230 tonne saving in CO2 emissions. These savings along with reduced product damage, storage and distribution costs have meant that converting to a reusable system has been beneficial to the company both commercially and in terms of its sustainability goals.

Also following the waste prevention reviews apetito has worked with the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) using its database of waste treatment providers developed with support of FDF to find a solution for its wet and pastry waste other than landfill. As a result an anaerobic digestion plant was located that offered a commercially viable solution. The company is now sending all of its meat, pastry and wet waste to A/D. This is estimated to have led to the diversion of some 3,000 tonnes of waste from landfill each year, with an equivalent saving of 3,000 tonnes of CO2, as well as generating significant cost savings for the company.

More Information

• Zero Waste to landfill - case studies
• Waste: promoting resource efficiency
• apetito website