BBIA member Vegware has launched a new commercial compostable collection service with Paper Round to collect its compostable packaging in London, Brighton and Sussex.

Vegware’s compostable foodservice packaging will be collected by Paper Round as a separate waste stream where it is sent to enVar’s in-vessel composting facility in Cambridgeshire, where it is turned into compost over a seven-week cycle.

The partnership will also educate businesses on best practice recycling for composting, which has been found to be key to making the service work.

Vegware’s Environmental and Communications Director, Lucy Frankel, said: “Caterers can only return to work with a major focus on safety and distancing. In the current environment disposables are in greater demand than ever, and sustainability is still paramount. We share Paper Round’s focus on quality source segregation and are pleased to see clients engaging with this issue. We are proud to launch this new composting solution to enable London, Brighton and Sussex to compost used Vegware disposables.”

Bill Swan, Paper Round’s managing director, added: “We are excited to launch this new product after successful trials with several Vegware customers. Our trials uncovered the importance of engagement and education to keep contamination levels low. Before launching a composting service, we wanted to make sure that we had a system that would deliver a viable waste stream for processors. After testing with a range of customer types we are now confident that this is possible.”

The findings of a 12-month pilot scheme which collected from a dozen London sites, including offices catered by Bartlett Mitchell and ISS Food services, as well as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, will be shared in a webinar hosted by Paper Round and Vegware on Wednesday 27 May.