Managing and reducing our waste

In all our decisions, we’re very conscious of what’s called the waste hierarchy. This principle orders the different ways that waste can be dealt with from most environmentally friendly, to least.

So things that went to landfill might now be incinerated for energy instead. Waste that is currently incinerated we should look to recycle or compost. And some of the waste that gets recycled should be reused instead. The more we can move items up the hierarchy, the better — although the best option is to create less waste.

We’ve established a dedicated waste group. Stacked with some seriously clever individuals, this group is in charge of finding new ways of cutting down on waste, and reducing the environmental impact of our waste disposal activities. They’ve already helped us to establish better waste segregation policies in our factory and offices, and they’re currently working on a number of initiatives that are designed to reduce the amount of waste we produce.

Our waste group also set targets and help us to progress towards our goal of eliminating unnecessary waste by 2025. Where we know that waste is unavoidable we look to reuse, recycle or compost — reuse being the best of these options. 

In order to increase waste that gets reused, we run a community-focused initiative called the Cone Exchange. Established in 2003, this special ​“scrap store” collects waste items from our factory and other local businesses and either trades them with other scrap stores or sells them to people who can give our waste a new lease of life.

The project works with schools, craft groups and community groups across Harrogate and all the proceeds are donated to local charities. We think the Cone Exchange is a great way to make good use of the tea bag string cones, cardboard boxes, hessian sacks and other craft-friendly materials that we’re done using, and the extra money for charity is great too.

Where we can’t reduce or reuse our waste, we look to recycle or compost where we can, and our factory uses a series of colour-coded bins to make sure that every scrap of cardboard, paper or glass ends up in the right place. About 48% of our waste is recycled, which is pretty good going, all things considered.

We recycle all of our cardboard, plastic film, rigid plastics, wood and metal. And all of our food waste and tea and coffee waste is sent locally for anaerobic digestion where it produces biogas and valuable fertiliser for farmers.

Working with local companies, we also ensure that unrecyclable things are kept from landfill sites and are instead turned into Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) that can be used as an alternative to high-carbon fossil fuels. We also turn approximately 34% of our waste to something called Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) that can be burnt in power plants to generate electricity.