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NOTHING LEFT TO WASTE
Charlotte Barker , conference sales manager at London venue BDC , writes about catering sustainably for large-scale conferences
BDC , Islington , London
It ’ s been over a decade since the BDC became a carbon neutral venue and , since then , great strides have been made to further reduce our carbon footprint and impact on the environment . This includes sending nothing to landfill , switching to renewable energy and collaborating with suppliers that share our vision . Alongside our catering team at The Good Eating Company , we ’ ve implemented some incredible changes over the recent years , some of which has seen us move towards a fully compostable catering solution .
In 2019 , we began working on ways to provide a takeaway service at large-scale events whereby all the products and packaging could be disposed of in our food waste stream , alongside any leftover food . It began at our local waste disposal centre , where we looked into whether we could dispose of some products alongside food waste for composting . The compost would be brought back to the local community for them to use on their gardens and allotments . This meant there would be no need to separate recyclable products from any food waste , which is almost an impossible task on large-scale events . The real work began by finding packaging that could be easily composted , and not just packaging that was biodegradable ; but what ’ s the difference ?
Biodegradable vs . Compostable Essentially , everything that is compostable is biodegradable , but not everything that is
Charlotte Barker
biodegradable is compostable . For food packaging to be considered compostable it must be certified to an approved standard and sent to an appropriate treatment facility for composting .
The treatment type is an industrial grade , breaking down packaging into compost over a period of seven weeks .
Biodegradable as a process , on the other hand , has no specified environment or time frame , making it extremely vague and meaning that a biodegradable product may break down in some unspecified time and environment , but not others .
What the BDC is doing We are lucky to have a dedicated supporter in our catering partner Liam Keating who , alongside his team , sourced products such as Vegware and Envirosip . This packaging ( everything from salad boxes and cups to cutlery ) is made from plant-based products , which can be easily disposed of alongside food waste . It is fully compostable .
Working with the organisers of a large-scale conference in 2019 who shared our vision , we were proud to carry out the first compostable food service .
Happily , 18 months later , as events are returning , it ’ s time to pick up where we left off . We are recommitting our promise to support events in finding sustainable alternatives , make better choices that work at the venue and work together with suppliers and partners as we build back out of the pandemic year .
● For more information , head to bdc . london / sustainability www . conference-news . co . uk