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About Us
Our Businesses
Investors
Responsibility
Media
Dorset Cereals packaging on the production line in Poole, UK
The principles of circularity and efficient resource usage align with the management ethos across our Grocery businesses, because alongside delivering environmental benefits they directly support operational efficiency and cost control.
This year, the Grocery businesses increased total waste generated by 11% compared with last year. The increase was driven mainly by George Weston Foods, which accounts for 76% of the Grocery segment's total recycled waste, with one site experiencing an increase in bread returns from retail stores. Of the total waste generated, 81% was recycled, recovered or sent for other beneficial use, which is an increase of 16% compared with 2023.
All businesses are actively working to reduce waste, with initiatives tailored to their specific operations. For example, Twinings Ovaltine is reducing its waste output by focusing on improved operational efficiencies, implementing various initiatives to reduce waste at source. These initiatives include improving machine efficiencies, reusing all production waste, returning plastic packaging materials back to suppliers after use and promoting a waste segregation culture across the entire business. Its UK and Polish manufacturing sites achieved zero waste to landfill this year. ACH has made investment in reducing waste by enhancing production efficiency and recycling waste materials.
With a product portfolio including staples such as bread, flour, rice, noodles, bagged sugars, tea, cooking sauces and breakfast cereals, reducing food waste remains a major area of focus for Grocery Group businesses.
Grocery Group businesses in the UK are signatories of the Courtauld Commitment 2030, an industry-wide initiative aiming for a 50% per capita reduction in food waste by 2030 against the UK 2007 baseline. Grocery Group is actively contributing to this goal by following the commitment's 'Target, Measure, Act' framework. Each business within the Grocery Group has established internal food waste reduction targets and is implementing strategies to minimise waste.
Between 2015 and 2023, food waste tonnage from Grocery Group businesses in the UK decreased by 23%. By the end of calendar year 2023, 92% of food waste went to the animal feed sector, and 6% of material unsuitable for feed was used for energy generation. Additionally, Grocery Group businesses in the UK have increased donations of surplus food to food banks, with over 580 tonnes donated in calendar year 2023.
Since 2022, Tip Top has been a signatory of the Australian Food Pact, which aims to halve food waste in Australia by 2030. Tip Top has an efficient resource use programme for reducing waste where most of the waste is either turned into breadcrumbs or used as animal feed. Tip Top currently sends less than 1% of its food waste to landfill. It is developing a Food Waste Action Plan to address reducing returns and food waste in customers' homes and at its bakeries.
Total waste generated vs proportion recycled
(000 tones)
Packaging has an important role to play in ensuring the safety and quality of products, but the Grocery businesses are also focused on minimising their environmental impact. Across many programmes and initiatives, the individual businesses are working to reduce packaging and increase recyclability and reusability.
During 2024, our Grocery businesses’ total packaging used remained consistent compared with 2023, while production output increased by 6%, demonstrating efficiencies in packaging use. This improvement is partially due to changes in production mix and volumes, as well as projects within the businesses to replace plastic packaging with alternative materials such as cardboard. Our Twinings, AB World Foods and ACH businesses use the largest quantities of packaging and therefore have the most influence on the segment’s packaging volumes.
Since 2018, Grocery Group’s businesses in the UK have been members of the UK Plastics Pact. Led by WRAP, the voluntary UK Plastics Pact commits signatories to eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use packaging through redesign, innovation or alternative delivery models. The commitment requires food producers and other users of plastic materials to factor recyclability into the specification and design of their packaging, and the waste reprocessing sector to adapt to ensure that those materials that technically can be recycled easily are collected and taken for reprocessing.
Quantity of packaging used
(000 tones)
Over calendar year 2023, our Grocery Group businesses in the UK continued to focus on the removal of packaging formats that use materials that are difficult to recycle. As a result, 89% of the packaging materials used over the past year were either fully recyclable in the UK or recyclable where facilities exist. Materials classified as difficult to recycle across its branded foods portfolio now account for less than 0.4% of all packaging and materials.
In 2023/2024, AB World Foods reduced the weight of Patak’s glass packaging for a sauce range, eliminating approximately 192 tonnes of glass and reducing carbon emissions by around 175 tCO2e. Additionally, It eliminated approximately 6 tonnes of steel, further reducing carbon emissions by about 90 tCO2e.
Silver Spoon has invested in a new palletiser and automated wrapping capability at its Bishop’s Stortford Flour Mill, which has reduced the supply chain waste of one of its major customers by 17% as a result of less handling and a reduction in damaged product.
Twinings is working to minimise packaging materials and where possible use more sustainable alternatives, increasing the recycled content and removing single-use plastic, and in doing so also making sure more of its packaging is recyclable. Twinings has committed to ensuring that all consumer packaging is recyclable or reusable and that its tea bags are compostable by 2025. Packaging sustainability is built into its new product development and innovation process. Design for recyclability guidelines are available to all packaging developers, with targets and guidelines part of all packaging briefs, and used during approval processes.
All tea bags produced at its Andover and Swarzedz factories are certified as Industrially Compostable, with approximately 70% of the tea bags used at Swarzedz, including the tag, thread, and inks, certified as Home Compostable. To reduce plastic waste, Twinings has also removed plastic wrap from around 75% of its cartons. In terms of overall packaging at the Andover and Swarzedz sites, 20% is currently compostable, 71% recycling1, 1% is designed for recycling, and 8% is currently not recyclable.
George Weston Foods is a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) 2025 National Packaging Targets and a foundational member of the National Plastics Recycling Scheme (NPRS). The NPRS is being developed by Australia’s food and grocery manufacturing industry, with funding support from the federal government, to create a new advanced recycling industry in Australia, aiming to turn plastic packaging back into new food-grade packaging. The NPRS is a critical part, but not the only part of George Weston Foods’ plastics and packaging strategy. Businesses within George Weston Foods have formed a Packaging Management Team to address packaging issues more generally and develop communities of practice to share innovations.
1. Recyclable / Recycled - recycling needs to be ‘in practice and at scale’ for a package to be considered recyclable. At scale means beyond the lab, pilot test or small population size to demonstrate that the design of the packaging is not a barrier to recycling and can be replicated widely.
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A Tip Top 100% recycled cardboard bread tag, Australia and New Zealand
Tip Top successfully launched Australia’s first 100% recycled and recyclable cardboard bread tags. Switching to recyclable tags, made from 100% recycled cardboard, across Australia and New Zealand will prevent approximately 300 million plastic tags from ending up in waste streams. Tip Top has removed around 105 tonnes of polystyrene from waste streams every year as part of its commitment that by 2025 all its packaging will be 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable.
