Frequently Asked Questions

Bioplastics are typically made from materials that are not suitable for human consumption. For example, producers do not use food grade corn in the manufacture, thus it can be grown on outlying agricultural land and not interfere with food production. If half of the world’s plastic production switched to crop-based bioplastics, the industry would still only require 3% of the world’s cultivated land.

Yes. You can save individual products as favourites by clicking the heart icon on any product. You'll find these saved in the favourites section of your Vegware account. Favourites make it easy to create shopping lists, find products quicker and add the products you order most often.

Login to your Vegware account and view your order history. From there, you can reorder previous purchases in just a few clicks, without having to search for products again.

Any quality concerns should be sent to our Customer Service team at info@vegware.com. Please include the below information in your email:

• Product code (including associated products such as lids, pots, etc)
• Original order number
• Batch numbers (printed on the outer case, with prefix VEGW)
• Clear explanation of the potential fault including usage
• Quantity affected
• Photo or video of the fault
• Requested action and / or outcome

We will aim to respond to the initial email within 4 working hours of receipt and, once all required information has been gathered, we shall create a plan for further investigation with an agreed upon timeline for updates and actions.

Yes. Creating an account allows you to place orders, track deliveries view order history and use features such as reordering and favourites.

When it comes to packaging designed for serving food, recycling can be challenging. Foodservice packaging may be made from recyclable materials, but once it becomes contaminated with food, it is often unsuitable for recycling. Food waste is a contaminant in dry mixed recycling streams, and the risk of contamination is one reason many waste collectors do not accept foodservice packaging for recycling.

This is where compostables work well. Compostable foodservice packaging is designed to be collected alongside food waste and processed together in industrial composting facilities. There's no need to wash packaging in a busy foodservice environment, as any leftover food becomes part of the composting process.

An added benefit is that collecting food waste and compostables together can help keep dry recycling streams cleaner and easier to recycle. Compostability is not the best solution for every product. For example, Vegware would not make a compostable water bottle because PET bottles already have a well-established recycling infrastructure. However, for food-contaminated disposables, compostability can be a practical and effective end-of-life solution.

Vegware's Environmental team works with the composting industry to ensure compostable packaging can be successfully processed in real-world conditions.

Vegware products are primarily accepted at in-vessel composting (IVC) facilities, alongside food and garden waste. We work with network of composting facilities across the UK and continue to engage with the waste sector to expand access and overcome barriers to collection and processing.

In addition, UK garden waste composting facilities that use open windrow composting are permitted to accept and process certified compostable drinks cups and lids. To find composting options in your area and learn more about commercial composting, visit the Composting section of our About page.

Many of Vegware's fibre-based products can be recycled if clean of food residues, where accepted. When this isn't possible, and for non-fibre products, the best option is general waste. This avoids any risk of contamination to material for recycling.

General waste in the UK is often treated through energy from waste where our materials (such as PLA) burn cleaner with fewer volatile gases produced than burning fossil plastic.

Please do not litter – compostable packaging is not expected to break down when discarded in the environment and is not a solution to marine pollution.

Offer a bring-back scheme! We encourage clients to operate a loyalty programme with a difference, rewarding customers who bring back their used Vegware while tackling the issue of on-the-go recycling.

Many clients offer their own loyalty card where, for each used Vegware product returned for composting, a customer earns a point or stamp towards a free hot drink or other treat. This helps increase footfall while capturing used Vegware takeaways, helping to get the packaging into the correct waste stream so it can fulfil its potential to become compost.

Yes! While Vegware products are designed for composting where suitable infrastructure exists, there are also benefits at the production stage.

Vegware packaging is made from renewable, recycled or reclaimed materials, using plant-based biomass rather than fossil-based resources. This means the raw materials can be replenished over time, unlike conventional plastics made from finite fossil resources.

The world's resources are finite, and disposable packaging is typically used for only a short period of time. Using renewable materials for suitable applications can help reduce reliance on virgin fossil resources, reserving conventional plastics for uses where alternatives are not yet practical.

Vegware works with commercial waste collection partners across the UK to enable us to support customers to compost their Vegware after use. We can advise on a range of solutions, from regular collections and post-back services to on-site composting.

Our Environmental team can help identify the most suitable option based on your location, waste volumes and operational needs. We will help fully embed the system using our 5 Steps to Compost process. To explore your options, get in touch via our Keen to Compost form.

Some Vegware products are certified as home compostable. This means they have been tested to break down in a well-managed home composting system without the high temperatures used in industrial composting facilities.

However, home composting is not an exact science. How quickly a product breaks down will depend on factors such as temperature, moisture, aeration and the overall management of the compost heap. While certified home compostable products can typically break down within around a year under suitable conditions, successful composting requires the right conditions and a degree of composting know-how. For guidance on home composting, visit How to set up home composting on Recycle Now.

The answer depends on where you live. In the UK, food waste is typically treated through one of two processes: anaerobic digestion (AD) or in-vessel composting (IVC).

Compostable packaging is best suited to in-vessel composting, so it cannot automatically be assumed that all household food waste collections will accept it. However, some UK local authorities use IVC facilities and are able to accept certified compostable packaging, including Vegware, alongside food waste.

As collection arrangements vary across the country, it's always best to check your local council's website to see what materials are accepted in your household food waste service.

In the Republic of Ireland, Vegware products are widely accepted in household brown bin collections, making it easier for residents to dispose of food waste and compostable packaging together.

Composting is officially recognised as a form of recycling that turns waste into a valuable resource. By processing food waste and compostable packaging locally, composting helps keep resources in the region and supports a more circular economy.

The resulting compost is used in agriculture, horticulture and landscaping to improve soil health. It returns valuable nutrients and organic matter to the soil, improving soil structure, water retention and plant growth.

Healthy soils also play an important environmental role. They can store carbon, support biodiversity and help reduce surface water runoff, which may lower flood risk. With soil health declining in many parts of the UK, compost provides a practical way to return organic matter to the land and help restore soil quality.

These two words often get mixed up, but they are very different.

Recyclable: is it able to be recycled? This refers to an item’s options when it is discarded – can it be reprocessed into a new product? Recycled content: has it already been recycled?

Recycled content is material which was previously recovered from the waste of a different product. So when Vegware talks about our recycled paper bags, these are made with paper which was previously waste.

You will find the phrase in relevant product descriptions on our website and in our marketing material.

Our on-product messaging is aimed at people using the products to eat their lunch. Our messaging here will stay focused on industrial composting. We aren’t adding recyclability info to our on-product messaging, as we want to avoid accidentally encouraging food waste contamination in otherwise dry recycling.

Let’s break it down:

‘if clean and dry’ – packaging must be free from food contamination, rinse it out to ensure all leftovers are removed

‘where accepted’ – foodservice packaging isn’t generally a target material in dry mixed recycling. Some waste collectors may accept clean food packaging - check with your waste contractor.

Many of Vegware’s fibre-based products are recyclable if clean and dry, where accepted. These products have passed a pulpability test in a laboratory, replicating how a standard paper mill recycles paper and card. A pulpability test is when a product is pulped to measure how much fibre it would provide for making new products. The certification we hold follows the testing protocol PTS-RH 021:2012.

Vegware still recommends industrial composting as the best solution for our products. Use our Keen to compost form to find the best composting solution for your business.

We need your logo and any additional text and artwork elements you may want included. We ideally require these in a vector format, however, depending on the product, we may be able to use high resolution jpegs (300dpi or higher). Please include instructions if you have a specific idea in mind for your artwork.

If you order through one of our distributor partners, please send this information directly to them.

Yes! If you would like to design your own custom printed products and have access to Adobe software, please get in touch so that we can supply you with the correct templates and guidelines.

If you order through one of our distributor partners, please contact them directly for this information.