Post COP26 – what we can all do
As we look back at COP26, we hope that we can all work together to honour the global commitments to sustainability. With Vegware’s roots in Edinburgh, we feel incredibly proud that Scotland has hosted the world’s biggest climate change conference.
In addition to composting Green Zone waste, we attended events throughout the fortnight. Here’s a round-up of Vegware’s COP26 involvement…
Composting in the Green Zone – Glasgow Science Centre
Throughout the conference our waste collection service for Central Belt Scotland, Close the Loop, was in operation at the Glasgow Science Centre. The centre hosted the ‘Green Zone’ section of the event which saw around 3,000 people a day attend, as well as a huge team of staff and volunteers making it all run smoothly.
Close the Loop collected used Vegware packaging and food scraps from Glasgow Science Centre and took it for industrial composting. From there, the waste will break down to nutrient-rich compost in under 12 weeks. So, happily, COP26 packaging waste will be turned into compost to be used by Scottish farmers, local authorities and garden centres.
Composting vital in climate crisis mitigation
Waste professionals highlighted that waste had been a critical oversight in the COP26 agenda. It’s vital not to overlook waste in everyone’s climate ambitions. Food waste in landfill can emit methane, a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Furthermore, compost itself brings so many environmental benefits such as sequestering carbon and reducing flood risk. Attending the conference, our Global Business Development Manager, Jorge Garaffa said, “our products and services are more essential now than ever before”.
Join us in the Race to Zero
We have signed up to the UN’s Race to Zero – has your business too?
There are many ways to sign up – we use the SME Climate Hub. It’s giving us a useful framework to plan how we can achieve net-zero.
Our UK -based Environmental and Communications Director, Lucy Frankel was invited to Glasgow last Thursday to join 100 innovative businesses discussing Scotland’s Race to Zero. Delegates were welcomed with a keynote speech from Richard Lochhead MSP, the Scottish Government’s Minister for Just Transition, Employment & Fair Work.
Ms Sophie Punte of the We Mean Business Coalition described the positive action already being taken by companies around the world, and a panel of impressive businesses explained their proactively climate-positive stance.
The Glasgow Climate Mission
Vegware had been invited to participate in this Glasgow Chamber of Commerce event, centred on the circular economy and sustainability. It was great to meet with delegates with shared ambitions from all over the world.
One of our team of Waste Management Consultants, Annalise Matthews, reported back on her experiences:
“It was great to meet with delegates from all over the world to share thoughts, experiences and find out what others were doing to become more sustainable and make the move towards net-zero targets. It was particularly interesting to hear about the barriers they faced, and how these differed from business to business. I have enjoyed learning from and sharing expertise so that we might overcome obstacles and work together in our aspirations for a more sustainable future.”
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