UK-based brewer and pub retailer Greene King has set a new zero waste-to-landfill target by 2020.

This announcement follows the company's partnership with waste management company SWR in April 2016 and its commitment to Courtauld 2025 to create a waste solution.

The goal of the partnership is to initially cut down waste sent to landfill across its entire managed estate and then make it zero waste by 2020.

Greene King began several initiatives across its managed pubs, including a waste recycling backhaul scheme under which pub teams separate waste into dedicated bins for food, cardboard, glass, and other materials. This, in turn, has cut down the number of general waste bins by 42%.

"Waste is a real issue for the hospitality industry, and with the total eating out market set to grow from an estimated £87.1 billion in 2016 to £94.1 billion in 2019."

A year following the launch of this initiative, Greene King claimed it has secured a 95% diversion away from landfill. It estimates that around 8,000t of food has so far been diverted from landfill across the entire managed pubs. This initiative has increased its recycling rate from 49% to 70%, and cut down 3,950,581t of CO2,.

Greene King group's trading partner Matt Todd said: “We’re really pleased to announce our goal of zero waste to landfill by 2020 and the progress made so far towards it. Waste is a real issue for the hospitality industry, and with the total eating out market set to grow from an estimated £87.1 billion in 2016 to £94.1 billion in 2019, it is set to become more and more pressing.

“We’re delighted that, as a leader in the space, we’re able to set an example to the rest of the industry and show that sustainability and an excellent offering can work hand in hand.

“The results show that we’re making real progress towards our goal, and we’re looking forward to implementing further initiatives over time.”

The pub company has also teamed up with WRAP to train area managers and work with supply chain partners regarding packaging and portion control.