How To Make Your Meal Deal More Sustainable…

As convenient and easy as meal deals are, they’re not always kind to the environment. Whether it’s the packaging, food waste, or diet choices, making small changes when consuming them can lead to big benefits for the planet. Here’s a quick guide to making your meal deal habits more sustainable. 

Use Your Own Coffee Cup

If you’re getting a hot drink as part of your meal deal (or, if you’re in luck and the machine is working, a freshly squeezed orange juice from Sainsburys), then make sure to bring your own cup in and avoid having to use a disposable one!  

The UK throws away 7 million disposable coffee cups every single day, that’s 2.5 billion every year. What’s worse is the confusion and misinformation around what can be recycled. Coffee cups should not actually be going in the mixed recycling bin for two main reasons.  

• The plastic lining on the inside needs to be separated with specific technology, and often the lids are deceptively made of polystyrene.  
• Coffee cups can contaminate Mixed Recycling, with liquid residue potentially ruining the quality of recyclable materials.  

At Recorra, we offer a specialised coffee cup stream, allowing coffee cups to be separated and collected apart from any other materials so they can be efficiently reprocessed. However, without one of these streams, coffee cups unfortunately need to be disposed of in general waste.   

Many companies have started offering discounts to incentivise people to bring their own reusable cups in, meaning long term financial savings can be made as well as reducing your burden on the planet. I bet you didn’t know that you can get a whole 50p off your Pret Coffee for using your own cup! 

Consider Your Carbon Footprint

Making conscious changes to implement a more environmentally conscious diet is one of the most effective ways an individual can reduce their carbon footprint. A plant-based diet has numerous benefits. Did you know that the total estimated methane emissions of the 5 largest meat and dairy companies exceed that of the 5 big fossil fuel giants? And a driving force behind mass deforestation occurs to raise livestock! So, why not give it a go; even going ‘red meat and dairy-free’ (not completely meat-free) just one day per week would achieve the same difference in carbon emissions as having a diet with zero food miles.  

Utilise Your Food Bin

Every year, the UK throws away 9.5 million tonnes of food waste, and approximately 5.5% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions come from food that’s thrown away. At Recorra, we produce energy from food waste through anaerobic digestion, and it is estimated that if all of this food waste was sent to anaerobic digestion it could provide enough electricity for 32,000 homes and heat for 8,000 homes. Another byproduct from food waste is fertiliser, which is available to purchase from Recorra’s Office Supplies if you want to contribute to a more circular economy. Reducing food waste in the first place should be the main goal, but if you do have leftovers make sure they are going in your food bin rather than the general waste bin (or even worse, contaminating the recycling bin). 

Don’t Recycle The Packaging

Yes, you read that right… while it might come as a surprise, unfortunately meal deal packaging is usually not recyclable due to the plastic lining which keeps your food fresh.  While this plastic lining is effective at maintaining food quality, it creates challenges for recycling facilities, as the materials cannot be separated easily.  Businesses are constantly changing their packaging to try and be more environmentally friendly – take that extra 5 seconds to read the recycling labels to see which bin your packaging is meant to be disposed in, and if you’re in doubt make sure to avoid contaminating the mixed recycling waste stream by throwing your packaging into the general waste bin. For more tips on how to avoid common recycling mistakes, check out this blog. 

Sustainability isn’t about completely changing your lifestyle overnight; it’s about making more thoughtful choices each day, and your meal deal is a perfect place to start. By implementing these tips, you’re not only reducing your environmental impact but also contributing to a healthier and more sustainable future. Here at Recorra,  we’re truly committed to fostering holistic environmental progress and are constantly trying to help businesses become  ore sustainable. 

By Tara Vellani