Foodservice Footprint Unknown-11 M&B prevents kitchen equipment waste “madness” Foodservice News and Information  news-email

M&B prevents kitchen equipment waste “madness”

Mitchells & Butlers is redistributing or recycling everything from combi ovens and dishwashers to potato peelers and ice machines in a bid to divert tonnes of waste ending up in landfill.

Each year the company makes around 250 investments in refurbishments and new kitchens. Most of the kitchen equipment disposed of during this process was sent to landfill, despite not being broken. “It didn’t fit into the new offer post-investment,” said the chain’s kitchen design, equipment and capacity manager, Ellie Wrighton.

Motivated by the “madness” of disposing of perfectly good kit, Wrighton designed a new system for assessing, storing, cleaning, testing and servicing the redundant equipment for use elsewhere.

Kitchen design managers grade the equipment from 1 to 4, with anything graded 1 to 3 fit to be reused elsewhere in the chain’s estate. Anything graded 4 is stripped down for spare parts.

Anything surplus to requirements, due to menu changes for example, is collected by Ramco Food Services and sold to other foodservice operators via dedicated catering auctions. As well as reducing waste to landfill, the company has saved money.