BakeryBits Social and Environmental Performance

At BakeryBits we like to do more than simply shove stuff in boxes and to send it away...We do of course do this but with a lot of skill, care and attention. All aspects of how we function are reviewed and we strive to constantly improve. A simple example is that we never use plastic tape on our boxes to make them easy for recycling and to avoid unnecessary single use plastic that can't be recycled. It costs a little more for us to use the paper tape but the overwhelming feedback from our lovely customers is that this is what is expected from us - and it's how we want to be too.

Over the years we have tried doing the right things on an ad hoc basis but we think we can do better - share what we have done and would like to do with you from both a social and environmental impact perspective. We're by no means perfect and there are lots of things we can improve upon and we're having a good go at that. If you think we're missing something from a social and environmental impact please do contact us.

BakeryBits, May 2024

Environmental Impact

Packaging - what we currently do

• 100% of our cardboard packaging (boxes) that we buy is FSC certified (from responsibly produced timber)
• We re-use supplier boxes to send orders where appropriate (for example, they are clean!)
• We shred clean waste cardboard to use as loose-fill in parcels to protect the contents and to avoid buying parcel fill.
• We only use paper tape to seal boxes and never buy single-use plastic tape.
• We use paper "bubble wrap" rather than plastic bubble wrap.

Packaging - what we want to do

• Pallet wrap is plastic and we have not found a sustainable alternative to this.

 

Energy Consumption - what we currently do

• All the electricity that we consume is renewable (Octopus Energy).
• We use no fossil fuels to heat or power any of our buildings.
• All our warehouse, office and floodlighting use low-energy LED technology.
• Our warehouse and office heating uses infra-red technology.

Energy Consumption - what we want to do

• We have aspirations to install a solar PV array at some point to generate our own electricity, site logistics allowing. 

 

Waste Management - what we currently do

• We have a contract with "Zero to Landfill" waste for materials we can't re-use
• We have a WEEE contract for the recycling of our electronic waste
• All the clean paper waste we have is shredded and used as chicken bedding (!)

Waste Management - what we want to do

• We would like to have an ongoing programme reduce the waste we generate, which is mostly from supplier packaging

 

Social Impact

BakeryBits Team - what we currently do

• We never use zero hours contracts (unless requested by the team member - not yet happened)
• All team members have a permanent contract
• We pay everyone at least the Real Living Wage and do not pay younger members any less
• All qualifying team members (more than 1 day a week) qualify for our health care scheme to make up for NHS difficulties
• We are an EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) employer, something that is core to our ethics.

BakeryBits Team - what we want to do

• We are working towards our B Corp certification, expected q3 2024.

 

BakeryBits' Community - what we currently do

• This is a weakness for us and an area that we are going to focus on in the next months
• On an ad hoc basis we give some materials and ingredients to local warm banks and community programmes

BakeryBits' Community - what we want to do

• Based on a BakeryBits team vote, the adopted charity for this year is the Wellington Warm Place, providing meals and community support for those in the locality that need it. We are making a financial donation and will assist where we can with ingredients and equipment that they might need from time to time.
• We would like to set up a scheme to enable the BakeryBits Team to do some voluntary work of their choice during the working week.