Used Vegware cup sold for £11 on ebay!

News item posted on Thursday, May, 9th filed under all news, customers, media

Cripes, it seems our limited edition Tim Peaks cups are really going down a treat! One of our custom cups made for Tim Peaks, the roving music-loving diner of Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess, has been sold on ebay for £11 including postage! The completely compostable cup was designed by artist Pete Fowler, who has worked for top bands, festivals and charities. Tim Burgess tweeted earlier today:

“@Tim_Burgess: Someone sold a (used!) Tim Peaks disposable cup on eBay for £11 (inc. p&p) …Free with every coffee at @fielddaylondon!”

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Vegware wins Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development!

News item posted on Sunday, April, 21st filed under all news, awards, media

What a week! On Thursday we found out that out of all the 200,000 members of the Federation of Small Businesses, we scooped the top prize in their awards – that was in the Edinburgh Evening News yesterday. And today it is announced that we have also won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development. 152 UK businesses were recognised with a Queen’s Award, but we are one of only 9 to gain this recognition for Sustainable Development. Read all about it on the BBC website, and also the news of Vegware’s Australian expansion in Scotland on Sunday.

Is it a double whammy? Or even a Royal Flush? A royal flush has five top cards, so for us so far in 2013 that could be…

  • today’s Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development
  • being named the best business in Scotland by the FSB, back in February
  • getting a second Scottish Parliamentary Motion congratulating us on that win
  • then winning the Business Innovation category at the FSB Streamline UK Awards
  • then also winning the top prize and being named the best small business in the UK

That makes five amazing bits of news, but last week our gourmet hot box won a ‘Highly Commended’ at the Essential Cafe trade awards, and then on Friday we also heard we were shortlisted in the Foodservice Footprint Awards… So we’ll have to forget about trying to crowbar all the good news into a numerical cliche and just say a HUGE thank you to all our friends, supporters and well wishers. We have had such a lot of good will and kind words over the last few days, and it feels fantastic. Thank you!

Vegware founder gives entrepreneur talk at Edinburgh Business School

News item posted on Friday, March, 1st filed under all news, events, media

Last night I (Kat) attended Joe Frankel’s entrepreneur’s talk at The University of Edinburgh Business School to listen to Joe’s unique story about how he turned a compostable spoon into a fast-growing eco packaging firm.

As part of the ‘Inspiring Entrepreneurs’ series, The Edinburgh E-Club invited the former Edinburgh student to share his entrepreneurial journey, and to give advice, and inspire future entrepreneurs about developing an idea into a fast growing business venture.

I have been at Vegware on my marketing placement for just over a month, so this blog is an amalgamation from both an employee, and a student’s perspective. I am currently studying Marketing Management at Edinburgh Napier University and as part of my degree I must undergo an internship to develop professional skills, and most importantly; put academic theory into business practice. And listening to Joe’s inspirational story certainly gave me a useful insight.

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Vegware is Green Company of the Year!

News item posted on Friday, March, 30th filed under all news, awards, media

Vegware_people_Joe Frankel_1200_Edinburgh chamber of commerce green company of the yearIt’s official! Vegware is Green Company of the Year. That was the big news last night at the inaugural Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Awards. We were nominated for the High Growth Award too, but the judges felt we were the best of the five nominees up for the green award. So now we are the greenest company in Edinburgh!

Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce’s Deputy CEO, Graham Birse, was impressed by Vegware as a home-grown eco success story. “We are hugely proud of Vegware – they are a low-carbon high-growth Edinburgh company, living proof that ethics and commercial success do mix. We are delighted to officially recognise Vegware’s contribution both to the local economy and to improving sustainability worldwide.”

During the dinner, Edinburgh’s business elite raised money for Radio Forth’s charity, Cash for Kids, which improves the lives of local children. Our lucky streak continued, and Business Development Manager Chris Murphy won the raffle prize to be a zookeeper for a day at Blair Drummond Safari Park. We’re going to make a day of it and all go up at some point soon.

Plastic additives headed for a ‘breakdown’? – my tuppence-worth

News item posted on Thursday, December, 15th filed under all news, food waste and recycling, media
Both oil-based PET and genuinely compostable bioplastics have their own recycling process. Recycling these materials creates recycled plastic, or nutrient-rich compost – both of these are useful end-products and have a market value. By introducing biodegradable additives to oil-based plastic, it confuses the consumer, and messes up both of these systems. This is simply a bogus green marketing ploy with no real benefit to the environment.
All Vegware products are totally plastic-free and have certification to prove they are can compost in under 12 weeks. All our products are designed to break down together with food waste, and in the UK we help all our customers set up food waste recycling so they can go zero waste to landfill. Vegware US also has links with many composting facilities. 90% of all waste could actually be recycled, so stuffing useful and valuable waste into landfill is economic and environmental madness.

There’s an article in Packaging Digest on ‘degradable’ oil-based plastics which have a biodegradable additive thrown into the mix, so they will break down into smaller bits of plastic when in landfill. Here’s my comment!

Both oil-based plastic and genuinely compostable bioplastics have their own recycling process. Recycling these materials creates either recycled plastic, or nutrient-rich compost – both of these are useful end-products and have a market value. By introducing biodegradable additives to oil-based plastic, it confuses the consumer, and messes up both of these recycling systems. ‘Degradable’ plastic is simply a bogus green marketing ploy with no real benefit to the environment.

All Vegware products are plastic-free and have certification to prove they are can compost in under 12 weeks. All our products are designed to break down together with food waste, and in the UK we help all our customers set up food waste recycling through the Food Waste Network so they can go zero waste to landfill. Vegware US also has links with many composting facilities. 90% of all waste could actually be recycled, so stuffing useful and valuable waste into landfill is economic and environmental madness. – Lucy Frankel

Vote for Joe…and win a luxury whiskey weekend for two!

News item posted on Monday, October, 10th filed under all news, awards, media

Vegware’s founder and MD, Joe Frankel, has been nominated for the Glenfiddich Sprit of Scotland Awards – celebrating individuals who aim to exceed all expectations in their chosen fields. Voting takes half a minute and gets you the chance to win a fabulous weekend break for two, featuring luxury accommodation and a Pioneers’ Tour of The Glenfiddich Distillery – that includes a whole heap of whiskey tasting! 20 runners-up win a bottle of Glenfiddich Special Reserve 12 Year Old.

Vote for Joe Frankel HERE - but in case you need reminding why he should win…

Joe Frankel is a committed social entrepreneur. He uses commerce as a force for positive change through Vegware, the Edinburgh firm he founded in 2006. The UK’s first and only completely compostable food packaging company it creates cups, plates and takeaway packaging from plants, not plastic. In 2011 alone, the fast-growing firm will reduce the catering sector’s carbon footprint by over 250 tonnes. The Vegware Community Fund reinvests profit into grassroots projects supporting sustainability in the widest sense. Vegware US was founded in 2008, and from this year, Vegware Europe will bring genuinely eco disposables to new markets.

Free event: GreenByDesign – discussing zero waste design, events and marketing

News item posted on Thursday, August, 18th filed under all news, events, media

Calling all designers, events and marketing professionals! You are cordially invited to a free, informal networking event at Vegware’s Edinburgh HQ. We will be discussing zero waste branding over a glass of wine. Come along to discover practical solutions for eco packaging design, sustainable marketing campaigns, and zero waste events. We will discuss:

  • how to combine sustainability with custom branding
  • how to help your clients audit – and save – carbon and virgin materials
  • boosting eco credentials and saving money by going zero waste to landfill

When: 4:30pm to 7pm, Thursday 8th September 2011

Where: Vegware, Canalside House, 43-45 Polwarth Crescent, Edinburgh EH11 1HS, UK.

Places are limited so please RSVP to sophie@vegware.co.uk by Tuesday 6th September.

We look forward to seeing you there! All the best from the Vegware team

Vegware unaffected by recycled paper health concerns

News item posted on Wednesday, March, 9th filed under all news, media

There have been reports of health concerns over the use of recycled paper in food packaging. Some of our products are made of recycled paper, but Vegware packaging is not affected by these current concerns for the following reasons: (more…)

Vegware compostable cup shortlisted for Climate Week Award

News item posted on Tuesday, March, 8th filed under all news, awards, media, new products

Vegware’s newest hot cup, the first completely compostable insulated hot cup on the market, is up for a Climate Week Award! This low-carbon, zero-waste cup is one of four entries competing in the Best New Product category in this new annual celebration of the UK’s low-carbon economy. Judges were impressed that it was made in the British Isles from GM-free EU materials and is suitable for composting together with food waste. (more…)

FM World case study on Vegware and Royal Bournemouth Hospital

News item posted on Thursday, November, 11th filed under all news, customers, food waste and recycling, media

A Vegware case study is in this issue of FM World, the magazine of the British Institute of Facilities Management. Ian Boughton went to Royal Bournemouth Hospital to discover how using Vegware compostable disposables is cost neutral and makes a huge difference to the environment. The article, Waste Not Want Not, is on page 26. Happy reading!