Riverford Organic Farmers commits to ditching the plastic

Riverford Organic Farmers has pledged that it will do away with all single use plastic in the next few years.

Riverford Organic Farmers is proving it’s a company with the planet’s best interests at heart as it’s committed itself to getting rid of single use plastic in its vegetable boxes by 2020. The organic produce franchise is stepping up and joining the global movement to reduce harmful plastic waste, which has a hugely detrimental effect on our oceans and environment.

Although Riverford claims to already use 77% less plastic than you’d find on similar produce in the supermarket, it’s pledged to remove all single use plastic from its boxes. Currently, the company uses plastic to keep produce such as salad, spinach and herbs fresh and protected in transit. However, it’s hoped that an alternative compostable packaging, which will break down within 12 weeks, will soon be ready for use by the organic food franchise.

For customers who don’t have composting facilities at home, Riverford will also set up a returns model, so that packaging can be returned to the company to be used to grow the produce that goes into the tasty organic fruit and veg boxes.

Founder of Riverford Organic Farmers, Guy Singh-Watson, explained that the switch was motivated by a need for more recyclable packaging and confusing rules set out by different local authorities on which kinds of plastic can or cannot be recycled.

“We desperately need an intelligent, long-term, national policy on what materials will be recycled, composted and incinerated or landfilled.”

Riverford Organic Farmers has won numerous accolades in its 30-year history, from the BOOM (best of organic market) awards, The Veggie Awards, The British Farming awards and was awarded the title of Ethical Product of the Decade in 2015 for its produce boxes that taste good and do good too.