Liz Earle Case Study
Sector: Beauty and Cosmetics
Equipment: A700 Rocket Food Waste Composter
The backstory
Award-winning British beauty brand, Liz Earle, has been leading the way in natural skincare for nearly three decades. Employing 500 people across the UK, the company is renowned for its sustainable values and naturally-derived products. Its head office, The Green House, is in Ryde on the Isle of Wight.
The building was originally designed and constructed to minimise environmental impact, with ground source heating, rainwater harvesting and solar energy generation in place. Its size was virtually doubled in 2012, with more offices and a new reception area, plus a bistro serving cooked meals to employees and visitors. This expansion dramatically increased the amount of food waste created on site.
Composting was the obvious waste management solution for this eco-conscious HQ, with a longer-term plan of producing soil improver for its various garden and woodland projects. Tidy Planet’s A700 Rocket Composter was the perfect way to do this — providing an efficient closed-loop recycling solution for all on-site food waste.
The challenge
A significant increase in the quantity of food waste being generated required a solution that was in line with the organisation’s commitment to advancing its sustainability.
Other important considerations included the quantity of compost needed. The grounds of the Green House have a very sticky clay soil, meaning large amounts of quality compost were needed to add structure, and aid drainage. Further compost was also required to support the growth of produce and shrubs, planted in the site’s surrounding woodland and botanical garden.
The solution
Installed in the summer of 2012, the A700 Rocket Composter coincided with a change of recycling arrangement with the company’s waste disposal company.
Overnight the Green House went from multiple bins for segregation to two — dry mixed waste and food waste — removing food from the dry stream, to allow more dry waste can be recycled, and reduce disposal costs.The composting process has been running continuously and successfully ever since, where 100% of the food waste generated goes into the rocket — producing around 700 litres of rich and nutritious compost per week! Any waste produced from growing or using fruit and vegetables is also put back into the rocket, meaning that none of it ever leaves the premises, cutting transport costs and further reducing the organisation’s carbon footprint.
Current position
Tidy Planet’s solution has slotted seamlessly into The Green House’s wider sustainability commitments, playing a pivotal role in reducing its environmental impact and improving its green credentials.
Since its installation, 20 tonnes of food waste per year is diverted from landfill to be repurposed as compost— equating to a remarkable 220 tonnes in the last 11 years. The quality of this compost is now also being tracked as part of the business’s ESG responsibilities, enabling it to further bolster its reputation as an ethical and conscientious operator.
Implementing and driving real sustainable change in the beauty industry can be difficult, but this partnership between Tidy Planet and Liz Earle Beauty Co. has been a great success — highlighting the value of investing in sustainable waste solutions.