Brands join Prince’s waste drive

MAJOR brands have made commitments to tackle waste by 2030 as part of a summit attended by the Prince of Wales.

The Co-operative Bank, Sky, Greggs, Heineken, Iceland and Toyota are among the founding signatories of the “Waste To Wealth” commitment to double the UK’s resource productivity and reduce avoidable waste by 2030.

It comes as 200 leaders from companies, government and other organisations attend a Waste To Wealth summit, with a keynote speech from the Prince on the urgent need to tackle waste in the UK and why business is best placed to take action.

Charles’ responsible business network Business in the Community, which is organising the summit being hosted by Veolia, is challenging firms to reduce waste or turn it into wealth to tackle climate change.

Firms signing up to the commitment pledge to set targets to improve productivity of resources, work to reduce avoidable waste, redesign the use of resources in products, services and operations, work collaboratively across organisations and report on progress.

Welcoming the initiative, Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: “We need to cut avoidable waste and start looking at the waste we do produce as a valuable resource. Today builds on the excellent work that HRH the Prince of Wales has done to raise environmental issues over many decades.

“By working together, we can all play a part in eliminating unnecessary waste to leave the environment in a better state for future generations.”