London Olympics body looks to packaging to help cut waste
Article taken from packagingnews.co.uk, 03 December 2009
The organisers of the London 2012 Olympic Games (Locog) are looking to work with the packaging industry to help reach sustainability goals for food and catering.
Waste is one of five areas of the Games Locog is looking at making more sustainable and a study has estimated that food or food-contaminated packaging will account for 40% of the 8,250 tonnes of waste generated during the games.
In its updated sustainability report, Locog identified a number of future actions for dealing with waste, including working with the packaging industry, the National Non-Food Crops Centre and Wrap to "identify deliverable solutions for food and catering packaging systems".
Olympic Delivery Authority chief executive David Higgins said sustainability was at the heart of the project. "Whether it is in the design of venues, using water and rail to reduce vehicle emissions, reusing and recycling waste on site or planting thousands of new trees and plants, we are determined to minimise carbon emissions and leave a green legacy for industry to follow," he said.
Locog has signed up to use the BRC's packaging recycling logo and all branded merchandising will carry the label, as the packaging will end up in household waste streams.
Single material streams
The report also said food catering systems would be used to increase recycling and stated Locog's preference for using a single-material approach for bottles and other catering items. Recycling will also be encouraged through the consistent branding of bins, building on work from organisations such as Recycle Now.
Locog said it was also looking to identify closed-loop systems for recycling where appropriate and identified a lack of anaerobic digestion in the capital as a potential issue for dealing with waste.
Waste sits alongside climate change, biodiversity, inclusion and healthy living as part of the body's sustainability strategy. The full report can be read by clicking here.
Locog chairman Sebastian Coe said sustainability had been part of the Olympic project since the beginning. "From construction to how we stage the Games in 2012, we're constantly looking at ways to ensure we're setting new standards in how major events are staged," he said.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "I want London to be recognised as a world leader in setting new standards in the reduction of carbon emissions as well as stimulating a low-carbon economy and creating green jobs."
LONDON 2012 WASTE HIERARCHY
The sustainability report outlines a six-stage disposal hierarchy
- Reduction
- Reuse
- Recycling and composting
- New and emerging technologies to recover energy
- Conventional incineration with recovery of energy
- Landfill
