Out with the old, in with bamboo ... 700 colleagues at Boston-area food site swap to bamboo cutlery for environment

Nationally, the food manufacturing company has removed more than 330 tonnes of plastic from its UK business this year and is supporting ideas for green initiatives from staff and suppliers.

The idea for bamboo cutlery for the onsite canteen at Bakkavor Meals Boston, at Old Leake, was the brainchild of Karen Johnston, who recommended the switch at a group employee forum.

Aware that plastic is not easily recyclable and takes many thousands of years to break down in the environment, Karen pitched the idea of Bakkavor giving colleagues a knife, fork and spoon bamboo cutlery set.

She said: “I’m really pleased my idea was adopted by Bakkavor and we have produced really nice cutlery sets in a nice cloth sheath that means my colleagues can re-use their cutlery and avoid using single use plastic items. It’s also one of those simple things that makes the working day that little bit easier – no one has to think about bringing cutlery to work from home or asking to borrow someone else’s knife and fork when they’re on lunch break. Nationally Bakkavor is doing a lot to support sustainability and it’s nice to think that locally we are making a difference too. My message to all local companies – switch to bamboo, it really works!”

Michael Smith, general manager at Bakkavor Meals Boston, said: “Our initiative is a great example of the simple little things we can all do to make a difference to our environment – and when 700 people all get behind an initiative such as this it can make a big difference. At Bakkavor, we are a business that backs bright ideas from our people and I would like to thank Karen and other colleagues around the UK that want to make a difference locally to the communities where we do business.”