By collaborating with leading companies to find sustainable solutions for our customers, Bunzl’s Sustainability Ambassador Program ensures that our customer’s sustainability objectives are always being prioritised. Bunzl Sustainability Ambassador Rachel Fairweather, Key Account Manager – Catering at Bunzl Australia and New Zealand took some time to discuss what she finds most important when it comes to sustainability in Hospitality and why she became part of the Sustainability Ambassador Program.
Why did you volunteer to become a Bunzl Sustainability Ambassador?
I’m very passionate about sustainability and due to the Catering Sector I work in, I thought I was a great candidate when it came to making one of the biggest impacts for our business and customers here in New Zealand.
Do you have any personal goals when it comes to sustainability in your industry?
My goal is to remove as many single use plastics products as possible across the Hospitality and Catering sector, and also educate my colleagues and customers about sustainability. It’s all about having conversations on how they can better assist their customers in reaching their sustainability goals – and keeping them educated about new innovation in the space.
What are you most excited to work with your customers about in the sustainability space?
Currently I am working with my customers to move them away from single-use problematic plastics. We’ve seen a large amount of work done in this space over the past few years, especially in clearing plastic cutlery in preparation for the ban this year. We’re transitioning a lot of customers over to our Sustain Birchwood Cutlery at the moment – an alternative to single use plastic utensils – which requires a lot of attention and planning. You need to time the transition so that you’re ensuring both the supplier, customer and Bunzl aren’t left with stock when the ban comes into effect.
I’m also including a Sustainability report in my Quarterly Business Reviews to ensure that we’re always looking at new ways to move customers to a more sustainable catalogue.
Is there anything that you’d like to see more of when it comes to sustainability?
Education around what sustainability means is important. There is a lot of misleading information out there which can cause a lot of public confusion, especially with our customers. Keeping open communication, finding accurate information and being able to present this in an easy & simple way benefits not only my customers but also our team members who may not know too much about sustainability and what that means.
I also think a great imitative would be for local governments to get behind investing and funding Commercially Compostable facilities across the country. As of right now, a lot of product goes into landfill that doesn’t have to because there isn’t accessible ways for the product to be processed.
What changes are you most excited about for the future?
Having the Government legislation changes around Single Use Plastics means that everyone needs to be on board with removing these from use. Removing products over a 5 year plan shows they are looking at what is important and to the future but there’s always more then can be done.
Contact your Bunzl Representative to find out how Bunzl can help you meet your sustainability goals.
