Our products, packaging and the environment
It all starts here. Sustainable attitudes. Relationships. Sourcing. Products. Packaging. Such a broad umbrella term should cover everything–at least, that’s what we believe. To us, sustainability carries substance, and it’s applied to every aspect of what we do. The Lake District isn’t ideal coffee and tea growing country so we can’t avoid having to look overseas for green beans and teas. We invest in quality, and only source ‘specialty grade’ coffee - meaning our coffee has a minimum score of 80/100 when graded for attributes such as aroma, flavour and balance. We can, however, make a difference where possible. We have cut the carbon emissions from our roasting operations by buying green energy to power our roastery and keep the lights on. We have changed all lighting in the roastery to LED. More efficient, greener and cheaper to run. We roast on gas as this produces the finest results. Gas also produces only one third of the greenhouse gases that other fossil fuel derived electricity does.
The biggest challenge for coffee roasters and tea merchants is single-use plastic. Most bags and pouches used today are made up of multiple layers of plastics that make recycling impossible. All our packaging is made of a single recyclable material, accepted as part of house refuse collections. This means you can recycle all our bags! We've even stopped printing the bags to prevent contamination during the recycling process.
Our tea bags are 100% plastic free and 100% biodegradeable. Our tea bag wrappers and boxes are 100% recyclable. As are our clear stand-up pouches.
Our coffee pods are 100% compostable and the box they are packed in is fully recyclable.
We deliver the majority of our wholesale customers coffee, and all coffee to our cafes, by hand in our zero-emission vehicle. If you get a delivery in a box please recycle or hand it back to us. We love our Penningtons brand, but recognise that ‘other brands are available’ when it comes to cardboard boxes. More than 80% of our team walk, cycle commute to work and the roastery is fitted with an electric vehicle charging point.
Over 95% of the waste produced at our Roastery is recycled. Ask us for coffee chaff - makes a great fertilser. We upcycle pallets (please call if you want some). Coffee bags have been made into cushions and others get a second life in local primary school sack races!
These changes make PENNINGTONS one of the most environmentally friendly coffee and tea merchant in the North West which is great for people and planet. There is more to do and we continually strive to reduce the impact of our business on the environment as it is the right thing to do.
