Yeo Valley Organic Reduces its Packaging

This packaging minimisation initiative is a major step towards Yeo Valley Organic’s wider commitment to waste reduction and recycling, which aims to make 95% of its product packaging recyclable by 2012.

21/05/09 The company has eliminated a total of 109 tonnes of packaging since January 2008, through a combination of reducing the amount of plastic used, increasing the amount of packaging made from recycled material and the removal of avoidable cardboard sleeves.

This packaging minimisation initiative is a major step towards Yeo Valley Organic’s wider commitment to waste reduction and recycling, which aims to make 95% of its product packaging recyclable by 2012.

The largest single saving over the last 12 months has been made in its use of the polypropylene (PP) used to make the company’s Big Pot yogurts. Yeo Valley has made the pot even more environmentally friendly by reducing the levels of PP used in each pot by 1.3g, resulting in a total saving of 40.2 tonnes a year.

The sleeves across the company’s yogurt range have also seen significant improvements, with some products moving to recycled board (4-packs), and the sleeves being removed altogether from the individual pots on its children’s Fruit Tumble and Strawberry Jumble 4-packs.

This has been complemented by reductions in the thickness of the PET lids used on its Big and Small Pots, Multi-pack and Children’s ranges. In total, more than 30 tonnes of cardboard and 3.5 tonnes of PET have been eliminated. Its PET and cardboard outer cases have also been part of this project, with 29.1 and 5.6 tonnes respectively being eradicated from the supply chain.

“This packaging minimisation initiative has taken 12 months to implement and sees nearly a 10% reduction in our total yogurt range packaging,” said Alison Sudbury, marketing manager – yogurts for Yeo Valley Organic. “We’ve had to strike a careful balance between packaging our products so that they still have strong shelf stand-out, protect the products and reflect the premium nature of our brand, while ensuring that there’s no superfluous packaging, which would go against our green credentials.

“As a result of these improvements, 53% of our packaging is now made from recycled materials, and 88% is fully recyclable where facilities exist. However, there’s always room for improvement and we’re committed to driving these figures upwards. Our aim is to make 95% of our packaging recyclable within the next two years.”