The UK manufacturer of pasties and other baked goods, Ginsters, is a frontrunner in raw material packaging minimisation, with a focus on bulk procurement of raw materials. Examples include the following (Ginsters, 2014, pers. comm):
- Switching to using bulk re-usable containers with a 1 tonne capacity for margarine rather than smaller consignments in cardboard cartons.
- Procuring flour in tankers rather than 25 kg sacks. The flour is pumped straight into a 70 tonne capacity flour silo.
- Delivery of potatoes from a local farm to the factory in a large truck fitted with a conveyor belt which enables the potatoes to be conveyed directly into the plant without any packaging
- Sourcing liquid egg, milk and cream in 500-1000 litre collapsible metal or plastic stillages Pallecons (supplied by CEVA Logistics). The Pallecon has a minimum capacity of 500 litres. The milk comes in a disposable bag, but the traditional method would have been to source milk in 6-10 litre bottles generating significantly more waste.
- Procurement of beef stock in 1000 litre IBCs (intermediate bulk containers) rather than the traditional 5 litre containers.