Reducing plastic and packaging and waste in the flower industry

Project team

Funder

ESRC Impact Follow-on Award £5000

Collaborators

Jill Timms (Surrey University)
Floriculture Sustainability Initiative
British Floristry Association
Interflora
Various British flower growers, high street and event florists, wholesalers

Duration

October 2023 ongoing

Project overview

There is a pressing need to reduce plastics/packaging and waste in the cut-flower industry but stakeholders lack access to information about (i) where the biggest areas of impact are within the supply chain; (ii) what the alternatives are; (iii) how sustainable these alternatives are in practice.

This project supports collaborative work between academic researchers, industry bodies and UK-based cut-flower firms to tackle these problems resulting in reductions in usage of plastics and packaging and better management of waste products. An initial output from the project is the production of a guidance booklet for florists and floral designers which provides information on sustainability challenges with regard to plastics, packaging and waste management and guides people in making more sustainable choices.

The project is linked to the Europe-based Floriculture Sustainability Initiative which promotes responsible production & trade, responsible conduct and integrated reporting in the flower industry.

Project objectives

(i) Establish a multi-stakeholder working group drawn from across the UK floriculture industry
(ii) Map the hotspots for plastic packaging usage and waste generation within cut-flower supply chains.
(iii) Identify and disseminate solutions for reducing waste by meeting the 5Rs – refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose and recycle.

Impact statement

This project will help the UK flower industry in terms of driving long term changes in the volumes and types of plastic and packaging used, with a net impact of substantially reducing negative footprints in the cut-flower industry thereby contributing to SDGs 12 and 13 and UK government and EU environmental targets.