Reducing food waste - reducing plastic waste
‘Wonky’ bread subscription service Earth & Wheat has teamed up with Treetop Biopak to switch to compostable packaging.
Earth & Wheat subscribers will now start to receive their bread inside new home-compostable bags designed for short shelf-life food such as bakery items.
Compostable packaging requires an active microbial environment, such as a compost heap, to fully degrade. This means Earth & Wheat’s new bags will disintegrate and then biodegrade into carbon dioxide (CO2), water and biomass, leaving no harmful residue behind, the company said. The OK Home Compost and EN/13432 certification means the bags will disintegrate after 12 weeks and completely biodegrade within one year in a home compost, Earth & Wheat added.
Earth & Wheat was launched by James Eid in March 2021, aiming to reduce food waste at the point of production. The enterprise ‘rescues’ bread and other baked goods which would otherwise have been discarded due to its odd size or unattractive appearance.
“Our mission is to reduce food waste in the UK but we’re always looking at innovative ways to become more sustainable, so we’re delighted to partner with Treetop Biopak,” said Eid. “By using their compostable bags in our Earth & Wheat boxes, we have found a great alternative to using plastic, which can be harmful to our environment.