 Background
United Biscuits (UB) is a leading European manufacturer of biscuits and snacks, producing best loved brands such as McVitie’s, KP and Jacob’s. Minimising packaging, whilst continuing to provide a quality product, is important to our consumers as well as our retail customers and makes good business sense. By reducing packaging we are able to reduce both our costs and the impact on the environment while still meeting the needs of consumers and customers.
How the issue was tackled
United Biscuits reduced the weight of packaging it uses, and hence the amount reaching consumers, by 6,800 tonnes per annum in 2006 compared with 2003 by adopting a reduce, recycle, reuse philosophy in line with the waste hierarchy.
As a supporter of the Courtauld Commitment, United Biscuits works in partnership with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to develop new and more effective wrapping for the biscuit and snack markets in which it operates.
Benefits and impacts
The company’s efforts to help consumers and others who are trying to recycle packaging waste have resulted in over 80% of all of its packaging by weight being readily suited to recycling. In addition, over 90% of the cardboard it uses is derived from recycled board, which not only helps to reduce packaging waste but avoid the use of virgin materials.
Advice to others
Constantly monitoring and evaluating new and innovative developments in the packaging market is an important dimension to United Biscuits’ approach. For example, the company is currently working with its snacks film provider to create a new film, which is 17% lighter than the one currently used and has the potential to save about 700 tonnes of packaging reaching consumers each year.
Another important dimension is training. The company therefore places a great deal of value on working with the Packaging Society to provide its employees with comprehensive training courses in all aspects of modern packaging. This includes the types of packaging materials that are on the market and the impact each can have on the environment. The training creates more awareness among the workforce and greater consideration for the use of packaging.
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