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A note on packaging...and other important things

Our approach

We don't do lip-service. Nic and I care deeply about the environment and the impact we may have as a business. We use local produce and for specialty ingredients, we only use those which travel by sea (the most carbon-friendly mode of goods transport.) Our energy provider was chosen not based on the best price, but due to the 100% renewable resource by which they provide us with energy. We are a 1 car family with Nic biking to Dishi most mornings. 

 

When we first opened Dishi as a dine-in restaurant we turned away customers who requested takeout food due to packaging. When we were closed in March, we needed to carry-on, so began making our meals to go. Choosing an appropriate packaging was fraught with misinformation about what is truly eco-friendly. We are still navigating the options. 

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I consulted a packaging expert from the University of Sheffield and she confirmed my suspicions that there is no silver bullet when it comes to takeout meals. 

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Currently we send meals out in reusable plastic containers, with the symbol PP 5, and while easily recyclable, we are trying to find a facility which specialises in the recycling of this type of plastic. At the moment, we ask that if you cannot find a use for them, please return them to Dishi, or give them to your mealbase driver and we will sanitise them and reuse them. For further information on plastic recycling please visit the page by Which:  https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/recycling/article/how-to-recycle-in-the-uk-ajwEz4p63Qs6 

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A new option we provide is home compostable packaging, if you have a compost at home, this packaging can be discarded into your compost where it will break down. The lids are still plastic, but they are rpet which means recycled PET, the easiest, most widespread plastic to recycle. So pop the lid in your brown bin and the bottom in your compost. Without a home compost, this option isn't an ecofriendly solution for you. 

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Additionally, could our regular customers let us know if they would like to participate in a regular meal delivery in metal containers. The details are being worked out through August. please bear with us while we come up with the most environmentally friendly solution. 

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Kombucha is sold in glass jars which can be returned for a 0.20p refund and our chili jars are also glass and reusable. Customers already bring these back and we re-fill them with more Dishi chili oil. 

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We are open to further customer suggestions, please email Renee at info@dishisheffield.com with any helpful ideas to make our enterprise as eco-friendly as possible. 

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Chilled meal packaging
Did you know...

Black plastic ready-meal trays are not recyclable! 

 

The most widely used "eco" packaging, Vegware, is only compostable in industrial facilities as they require high heat to break- down, which Sheffield does not have. They will however burn at Sheffield's energy-to-waste facility. 

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What is the difference between biodegradable and compostable? These terms are used interchangeably, however biodegradable can be a product which takes many years to break-down. 

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Microwave food cooking is more energy efficient and carbon-friendly than oven heating. Next time you are cooking roast vegetables, consider pre-cooking them in the microwave before finishing them in the oven. 

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Aluminum trays are easy to recycle but require high levels of CO2 to produce, so good to use sparingly. 

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