Member Article

Catering supplier working towards plastics change...

ONE of the country’s leading suppliers to the hospitality and leisure industry is helping lead the way in identifying eco-friendly products.

North-East based Innerglass Ltd – part of the IG Group – provides bar accessories, catering disposables, glassware, crockery and thousands of other products to many of the UK’s biggest names in hospitality.

And in response to the industry’s move away from plastic items, the company is now working closely with its providers to offer alternatives.

The family-owned business, headed up by CEO Stephen Hoey, has been investigating a range of products that don’t harm the environment and are truly compostable and disposable.

Innerglass is working closely with supplier Plastico, which is currently leading the way in providing solutions to deal with the on-going problem of single use plastics..

John Reeves, Plastico’s Head of European Sales, said that the situation was more complicated than most people realised and praised companies like Innerglass for their forward thinking.

“We are working closely with companies like Innerglass to provide solutions which really do help protect the environment,” said Mr Reeves.

“The problem is that people think they need to change away from items like plastic straws to products which are biodegradable, but the truth is that the vast majority of the sites in the UK which deal with industrial compostable materials can’t or won’t process them, so they end up in landfill anyway.”

One of Plastico’s solutions is to offer single use, disposable glasses which they then collect after sporting events, music festivals & concerts, in fact anywhere where their cups are used and the waste stream is controlled.

Once collected, the material is re-processed and used to manufacture items that can be used for products that benefit the community or indeed the Innerglass customer.

Mr Reeves believes that the hospitality and leisure industry needs to be better informed about what is the best course of action and should talk to their expert suppliers to find out more.

“Companies like Innerglass are very well informed and keep an eye on what products are available and what this means in terms of the environment,” he said.

“We are constantly looking at options but at the same time this is also about educating consumer behaviour and looking at how we can recycle products.”

Stephen Hoey, of Innerglass, said that the company was responding to the requests of customers on the best alternatives to plastics.

“We are looking at what’s available so we can give our customers the information they want and suitable products,” said Mr Hoey.

“It’s very important that we work closely with our suppliers and we are delighted to be constantly talking with companies like Plastico to help protect the environment.”

Based at the North West Industrial Estate, the company provides glassware, crockery, bar and cocktail supplies from its 150,000 sq ft warehouses at Peterlee and Sunderland where it holds around 10,000 branded products.

For further information visit www.ig-groupuk.com

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