Disposable Food Packaging in the UK
In 2019, a survey found that 11 billion items of packaging waste, equivalent to 2,000 swimming pools, was generated in the UK. An overwhelming majority of this packaging ends up in the landfills, polluting our oceans, and harming our biodiversity. It estimated that one individual generates nearly 1,000 items of packaging waste across a year, which highlights just how large everyone’s contribution is to the issue.
When LSE alumna Ming Zhao and Josephine Liang were working as city professionals, they noticed that the office bins were constantly piled up with takeout food packaging. While understanding the high demand for takeaway food, they wanted to find a better solution to the packaging challenges this presented.
CauliBox: A Circular Solution
After long conversations and a lot of market research, Liang and Zhao came to the solution – to launch London’s first reusable food container scheme, based on a local circular system: CauliBox. The idea is that the 100% recyclable CauliBox containers are used, collected, washed, and repeatedly re-used more than 400 times.
“Working closely with users and clients, CauliBox helps caterers switch from disposable to reusable food and drink packaging and supports them in achieving and reporting their environmental impacts and strides towards Net-Zero. Our all-inclusive solution provides all the hardware (specially designed containers including boxes, cups, and pizza boxes, smart kiosk to track returned assets) and software (app and real-time admin panel with impact and usage stats) needed; CauliBox is lauded by clients as the most ‘well-considered’ and ‘complete’ solution in the market.”
– Josephine Liang
Up to May 2022, CauliBox has prevented 13,754 disposables from entering landfill, saving 3,267 kilograms of CO2, and 116,978 litres of water. CauliBox is on track to divert more than 300,000kg of CO2 emissions by end-2022, the equivalent of the annual CO2 absorption of approximately 15,000 full-grown trees. The founders are confident that CauliBox is the solution to end single-use packaging waste at workplace and event dining.
The Route to Success
In 2020, Liang and Zhao applied to the LSE Generate Accelerator Programme (GAP), which is a 12-week part-time programme dedicated to the most promising early-stage start-ups co-founded by LSE students, staff, and alumni. The programme provides entrepreneurial teams with a £5000 grant, coaching by entrepreneurs-in-residence (EiR), as well as experts and mentors, and access to co-working space at the heart of LSE.
The entrepreneurial journey of Josephine Liang and Ming Zhao has also been marked with some remarkable successes. After the completion of GAP, CauliBox has secured a seed investment from SFC Capital. The business was also featured in the UK Investors Magazine’s Top 30 Start-ups from Webb Summit in 2021 and won the CleanTech / Environmental Services Company of the Year by the West London Business Award 2022. CauliBox also signed a partnership with Morrison’s in 2021, which marks the beginning of larger and more impactful partnerships.
If you are interested in exploring how LSE Generate can support you with your business idea, please get in touch with us via generate@lse.ac.uk.