Switching from single use to reusable food containers in the main restaurant at RUH - Bath

Project completed as part of the RUH Bath Green Team Competition. 

Team members: Fabio Soliman, Georgia-Rose Gleeson, Elizabeth Ray 

Setting / patent group: Catering

Issue: At the Royal United Hospitals (RUH) Foundation Trust, it has been calculated that we use  >4,000 single-use cardboard food containers in the main staff facing catering outlet, the Lansdown Restaurant every week. This is creating large amounts of waste and associated carbon emissions which we would like to avoid in order to align to our Trust’s ambitious Net Zero targets.

Intervention: Introducing the change of reusable containers.

Initial testing of reusable boxes:

• A number of staff started using a sample of the reusable boxes on a regular basis to test usability and robustness of the product. 
• Feedback provided was that the boxes are sturdy enough and keep the heat as expected. Can also go through the dishwasher safely and can be kept under the heat lamp.

Based on this success we decided to further test the product.

Planned testing:

• 15 regular customers were selected by the retail catering manager to trial the reusable boxes over a 2-week period. 
• Feedback questionnaire will be sent out at the end of trial.

Final planned project: 

• The plan of the final project is to begin with 100 reusable boxes per day starting primarily with regular customers. These customers would test the uptake of a food container reuse scheme and see how this could be rolled out which would encourage behaviour change of other customers on a wider scale. Feedback will be encouraged using the same questionnaire as the initial small scale test. If this pilot were to be successful, the plan would be to replace all single-use containers (food and drink) with reusable at all catering outlets in the hospital where practically feasible.

Potential Outcomes:

Environmental: If the RUH were to switch from single use meal boxes to reusable, it is estimated that we will save 1,485 kgCO2e per year. Additionally, we are diverting 3,641 kg of waste from landfill

Financial: Over a year once initial outlay is covered, savings of using reusable containers  = £156.91

However, other costs to account for include:

- Recycling waste disposal costs (would increase overall cost of single-use containers more than reusable scenario)

- Cost of reusable container scanning/ payment system

Key learning point:

The progress made with FSG has been very positive due to their previous experience with other Trusts. The aim is to move forward on reducing single use packaging by replacing single use cups and implementing reusable packaging to all other offered meals at Lansdown. Raising awareness about sustainability in this area may help to encourage behaviour change of Lansdown Restaurant users and their openness to other environmentally focused projects in the future.