The company has announced its intention to stop the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in all of its packaging by spring 2015 and shift to polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
“As a business we want to be leading from the front in this increasingly important area by working in partnership to address waste at all points along the supply chain,” said Andrew Wright, Tulip’s corporate responsibility manager.
‘Great opportunity’
“Partnering with WRAP gives us a great opportunity to help play a role in setting the standards for the UK’s food manufacturing sector. I am delighted that as part of our commitment to Courtauld 3 we are announcing our intention to complete a move away from the use of PVC in all of our packaging by spring 2015 and replace its use with PET materials.
“There isn’t the infrastructure in the UK for the effective recycling of PVC materials so it just goes to landfill which is incredibly damaging to the environment, whereas PET recycling facilities are now well-established.”
Dr Richard Swannell, director of sustainable food systems at WRAP, said he was “delighted” with Tulip’s move. “This reiterates their commitment to embed resource efficiency in the manufacturing and supply of their goods while helping their consumer to reduce food waste,” he added. “We look forward to working with them.”
Tulip, which is owned by Danish Crown Group, employs about 7,500 people across 17 manufacturing facilities and produces 359,000t of products a year.
‘Zero waste economy’
The Courtauld Commitment 3 is a voluntary agreement aimed at improving resource efficiency and reducing waste within the UK grocery sector. It supports the UK government’s policy goal of a ‘zero waste economy’ as well as meeting climate change objectives to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
WRAP works in partnership with the UK’s leading retailers, manufacturers and suppliers to support their efforts to deliver a more sustainable use of resources throughout every element of the product lifecycle.