United Biscuits first to hit total zero waste to landfill

29-Feb-2012 - Last updated on 29-Feb-2012 at 14:56 GMT

Giant steps: UB has saved 9,000t being sent waste to landfill, the equivalent weight of about 2,000 African elephants

McVitie’s maker United Biscuits (UB) has become the first major food manufacturer in Britain to achieve zero waste to landfill across all of its UK sites, the firm has claimed.

UB said that the target had been reached at all its sites, including factories, distribution centres and administrative offices.

The target was successfully achieved in December last year as a result of employees maximising their recycling efforts and the business reducing the amount of waste that it created.

Incinerating residual waste that could not be recycled also aided the process, the firm revealed.

Extremely rewarding

Jeff van der Eems, chair of UB’s sustainability committee, said: “This is a fantastic milestone for United Biscuits and it’s extremely rewarding to see that all of our hard work has paid off.

“We’ve massively reduced the tonnage of non-food waste sent to landfill over several years. Since 2006 we’ve saved 9000t of waste being sent to landfill. To put it into context, this is the equivalent weight of around 2000 male African elephants, so it’s an incredible achievement.”

The zero waste initiative forms part of UB’s wider environmental programme, which the biscuit and snacks manufacturer launched back in 2008.

In 2010 UB brought forward its target of zero non-food waste to landfill to 2012 from the original deadline of 2015.

The firm also claimed it was the first manufacturer in the UK to achieve 100% sustainable palm oil.