Sustainability

We care about our planet as much as you do. It shows in the way we operate our business and the products we source for yours.

Our goal is to drive sustainable change through innovation and collaboration and to help our business and our customers to be a force for good. For us, sustainability is about respecting finite resources, taking care of our environment, operational and contributing to the communities in which we all live and work.

In 2019, we created a Sustainability Strategy which focuses on the four key pillars of our business: People, Planet, Product and Profit.

View our catalogue library here.

Responsibly Sourced Products and Packaging

Providing sustainable products and solutions is core to our approach to sustainability. We know we can make a difference, and so can you. That’s why we work with our suppliers to bring you recyclable or certified compostable products and choose manufacturers with sustainable production practices. To enforce this, we have a dedicated team of 30 Bunzl employees based in Shanghai to audit our Far East suppliers, allowing us to assure our customers that we are sourcing from supply chains that re ethically and environmentally sustainable.

Recyclable and Compostable Catering Disposables

We have a broad range of products in stock with sustainability features to help your business to be more responsible. Whether you are looking for disposables that are widely recyclable, made from recycled materials or certified compostable, we have a broad range of coffee cups, lids, napkins, plates, salad boxes and other disposables to meet your preferred waste stream.

Reusable Products

Due to increased awareness of living more sustainably and reducing our waste wherever possible, we have seen a behavioural shift in consumer behaviour over the last few years, with carrying a reusable coffee cup now a standard practice for most office workers. We supply a broad range of reusable products to meet this growing demand. Many customers are now selling reusable products in their businesses, with some offering a discount for use. View our Sustainable Product Catalogue for a list of current products on offer.

Customer Sustainability Auditing

We recognise that our customers are also focused on their sustainability agenda. Many customers have set goals and targets around the sustainability of the products and packaging that they use in their businesses, and some have reduction targets in areas like single-use plastics and use of virgin materials.

We are passionate about sustainable products and packaging and have the expert sustainability knowledge and innovative tools to provide our customers with transparent advice to help them to make responsible choices.

We have developed a unique Material Footprint Tool to enable us to analyse the portfolio of products that you are currently buying. From this, we can carry out a sustainability audit of your entire catering disposables range, traffic-lighting your current product range and providing you with a report on suggested alternatives to improve your material footprint. This helps to de-risk your business by ensuring that you are compliant with upcoming legislation and also aligns with sustainability trends and the ever-growing demand from consumers to buy products that are packaged responsibly.

Additional Sustainability Support

We are also here to advise on the sustainability issues common to our customer’s business, such as:

What’s better for my business: compostables or recyclables?
Waste segregation: tips to reduce your waste to landfill wherever possible
Employee sustainability training and engagement
Communication to your end user: how to nudge them to be more environmentally responsible when disposing of your packaging

Environmental Responsibility Day-to-day

Operating responsibly starts with our day-to-day habits. Working on the little things can contribute to big changes over time. At Bunzl Irish Merchants, we practice sustainability every day. Some examples of our office initiatives include:

If the lights don’t need to be on, they’re not
Our e-warehouse system eliminates paper documents and dramatically reduces the need for recycling and waste management
Recycling programs are in place in all Bunzl offices
Our trucks produce fewer emissions thanks to a tracking system that reduces idling time
We align with five of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to set target and track our progress