The environmental impact of the misuse of grocery delivery equipment

THE NATION’S largest bakers including Allied Bakeries, Fine Lady Bakeries, Frank Roberts & Sons, Hovis and Warburtons are calling out to the UK’s wholesale market managers and traders to raise awareness of misplaced bakery equipment that often ends up being used for display and storage in the markets sector.

These bakers represented by Bakers Basco - the membership scheme created to purchase, manage, and monitor the use of standardised bread baskets for deliveries to retailers and wholesalers - are encouraging anyone involved in managing markets to be vigilant towards its bread baskets and dolly equipment, which is being taken out of the bakery logistics supply chain, unintentionally or otherwise, and contributing negatively to the environment.

As part of this campaign, Bakers Basco has created a poster as part of its push to raise awareness of this issue among the market trading industry and its recovery team will be handing these out at market sites in the coming months.  In the past 12 months, Bakers Basco has achieved significant recoveries from the 244 markets visited (including: New Covent Garden and Queens markets) with 12,104 Omega baskets and 1,260 Omega dollies recovered.

Bread basket theft (or conversion) is the Achilles’ heel of the baking industry. It is an issue that has plagued bakers for many years - with typical losses in excess of 60% and, in extreme cases, up to 100%. Since it was formed in 2006, Bakers Basco has worked tirelessly to crack down on the potential abuse and misuse across its pool of five million bread baskets and associated wheeled dollies. This equipment is designed for the sole purpose of transporting bread safely, cost-effectively and in an environmentally-friendly way from bakeries to grocery retailers across the UK on a daily basis.

This equipment holds substantial value both environmentally and monetarily. Unfortunately, misplaced baskets often end up in landfills, negatively affecting the environment and the green credentials of the retail and other industries. Our recovery team has frequently found these baskets stacked and ready for collection by recycling companies. While it is encouraging to see market management addressing the issue of grocery equipment being discarded or misused, this approach does not fully solve the problem. Unscrupulous recyclers continue to benefit from recycling plastic items that still have a shelf life.

In an effort to repatriate its equipment, Bakers Basco has invested heavily over the past few years in GPS technology to track the whereabouts of its bread baskets and dollies. It also has a dedicated national investigations team tasked with identifying and reclaiming any equipment which has been delayed, lost or stolen.  

"The problem of misplaced and misused baskets at market sites has increased massively over the last few years, prompting our investigations team to launch a nationwide campaign to combat the issue," says Paul Empson, general manager of Bakers Basco. "Obviously, we are not pointing fingers in this instance, but our experience and investigations team indicate that markets are among some of the industries that use our baskets, often without realising what they are doing is illegal. If people understood the true value of our equipment, the cost of its loss to the industry, and the potentially serious consequences of misuse, I’m sure it would be less prevalent. By working together, we can help the environment by ensuring the equipment returns to the supply chain and reduces the need to produce more plastic to replace them."

For anyone who comes across these baskets, please contact the Bakers Basco team, who are willing to arrange collections for free. 

You can report via the recovery helpline: 08000 327323 or email enquiries@bakersbasco.co.uk

For more information, visit http://bakersbasco.com