London-based partnership to manage compostable packaging reaches milestone

Waste management company, Recorra, and compostable packaging provider, Vegware, are marking five years of their partnership operating London’s first dedicated composting collection scheme for food service packaging.

Since launching in 2020, the collaboration has enabled over 50 businesses across London, Brighton, and Sussex to compost their used Vegware packaging alongside food waste, diverting more than 500,000 kg of organic materials from general waste streams.

The service allows businesses to have their compostable packaging and food scraps collected and transported to Envar’s composting facility in Cambridgeshire, where the materials are recycled into high-grade compost in under 12 weeks.

Vegware supplies a wide range of compostable foodservice packaging, including cutlery, cups, plates, containers, and takeaway boxes, made from renewable plant-based materials such as PLA, bagasse and palm leaf.

Vegware’s Senior Waste Management Consultant, David Dyce, discussed the partnership: “At Vegware, we pride ourselves on our environmental consultancy and helping our customers compost their used Vegware packaging. In Recorra, we have found partners who share our commitment to the circular economy.”

From trial to established service

The partnership began with a 12-organisation trial in 2020 to establish operational viability before launching across Recorra’s customer base in 2021.

Since then, the service has expanded and served as a blueprint for similar initiatives across the UK, demonstrating the practical feasibility of compostable packaging collection and processing systems.

In 2021, with support from WRAP and Vegware, Recorra installed the UK’s first dedicated compostables sorting line at their materials recovery facility in Essex.

Recorra’s Head of Product, Innovation and Circularity, James George, commented: “Recorra’s work with Vegware and Envar has shown that a viable solution can be put in place and work over a long period of time. The service enables the source segregated collection of used single use tableware with food scraps that would usually not be recyclable/recoverable and turning the material into high quality compost meeting the strict PAS 100 standard.”

The companies also collaborated with the University of Sheffield as part of Compostable Coalition UK in 2023, to develop effective behaviour change interventions at three catered offices in London.

The project, which involved working the behaviour change psychologists, successfully increased recycling rates in the offices from 56 per cent to 91 per cent.

Following their success to date, both companies have indicated plans to expand the service further in 2025.

Dyce added: “It has been fantastic to see so many sites composting. I am hoping we can get many more on board in the next five years!”