Burbs Kitchen Policy
We are committed to eliminating all single-use plastics from our business and eliminating food waste. This policy’s development is an ongoing process; we are mindful of what we buy and how our ingredients and products are delivered. These are the steps we are taking to reduce plastics in our business and eliminate food waste.
Food waste has a significant impact on the environment as most of it ends up in landfill sites, where it rots and releases methane into the atmosphere. We want to be part of the solution and not the problem.
Recycling
We buy our produce fresh; this eliminates the need to purchase pre-packaged products. With home delivery, food waste is limited as we only accept pre-orders, so we buy what we need from local suppliers. At catering events, we will take the ‘best guess’ feedback from event teams to buy what we expect to sell. Should food be left at the end, we would rather pass it to other traders and the events team rather than dispose of it. Recycling boxes can be supplied for all events.
The majority of our ready meals are served in foil, ready to place straight in the oven. Clean aluminum trays are widely recycled and can be placed in with your general recycling.
Breads – Will be wrapped in foil.
Salad, Coleslaw, Lunchpacks -Presented in boxes with a compostable plastic lid.
Our platters are presented in a cardboard tray with a recyclable plastic lid.
When we open our restaurant for customer leftovers (which we hope will be limited!), we will supply takeaway containers or home compost at Burbs Kitchen (for upcoming vegetable patch). For products bought on-site, on some occasions, we will encourage customers to bring their own boxes and bags to transport their produce home.
We sometimes use non-PVC cling film; usually for buffets and dips (to keep these protected in transit), we are trying our hardest to remove this plastic use.
Suppliers
We aim to work with suppliers that can help us remove single-use plastic packaging and where possible, we will work with suppliers to reuse storage containers.
We always use local, which cuts down the carbon footprint from field to plate.
Vegetables – Arrive in crates which are returned and used again and again.
Fish – Generally arrives in polystyrene; when this is the case, we remove the fish and give the packaging back to the driver.
Meat – Arrives in paper packaging.
There are some occasions when food comes vacuum packed for freshness, such as cooked meats. We will continue to be mindful of this and look for other options.
Cleaning products and soaps. We buy refills from our suppliers and reuse the large bottles to help recycle our cooking oil. We aim to look for suppliers where larger bottles can be sent back to them for reuse.
Customers
We will educate our customers that their food packaging can be recycled and encourage their own container use when there is a suitable need. Useful videos for customers will be added to this page.