Bettaveg supplies, among others, to football club Manchester United, which has been working with WRAP experts  (http://www.wrap.org.uk/) [1] to provide free and practical advice to help its suppliers cut costs by reducing waste. As a result of joining this supply chain partnership, the SME Bettaveg implemented a number of resource efficiency practices.

These measures include:

• Supplying goods in reusable plastic crates;

• Providing driver training for improved transport efficiency;

• Installing energy efficient lighting when existing lamps expire;

• Turning off electrical equipment when not in use;

• Achieving a 70% recycling rate;

• Buying recycled paper and re-using paper that has been printed on one side for message pads;

• Re-using office files;

• Introducing a ‘cycle to work’ scheme;

• Donating surplus fruit and vegetables that are fit for human consumption to a food redistribution charity and composting waste that isn’t edible; and

• Motivating staff by involving them in the process of resource efficiency – doing more with less.

Bettaveg is also focusing its efforts towards increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables sourced from local farms and growers. Bettaveg buyers are constantly looking for new local farmers and growers to become their suppliers in order to guarantee as much as possible locally sourced products.

Effects/Results

During the first stage of implementation of the above-mentioned measures, Bettaveg has identified potential savings estimated at about £ 5,000 (more than € 6,500) a year as a result of the improved working relationship.

Incentives/Enablers

These measures have been introduced thanks to the participation of Bettaveg in the Supply Chain Partnership from Manchester United thanks to WRAP (http://www.wrap.org.uk/ [2]) which is a charity-run programme aimed at moving towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production to achieve global sustainable development.

Barriers/challenges and Lessons learnt

WRAP helped to address barriers. It was quite hard to change people's behaviour, it indeed took about 6 months before some preliminary results have been achieved in this direction.