To coincide with Food Waste Action Week (9-15th March), St Austell Brewery is marking one year of its award-winning waste initiative with a dramatic uplift in recycling and a new commitment to tackling food waste across its whole business.
As part of the progress made so far, 100% of food waste from its 45 managed pubs across the South West is now diverted from general waste into anaerobic digestion or redistributed to local communities via Olio, a surplus food sharing app.
Launched in 2025, Operation Segregation set out to improve how waste is sorted, measured and reduced across the company’s managed pub estate. Working in partnership with Biffa, the brewery introduced colour coded bins, improved signage and enhanced team training to make correct segregation easier across all sites. This has contributed to a 16% drop in general waste and a 49% reduction in total waste since 2023. Some pubs have also doubled their recycling rates.
Emily Coon, Sustainability Manager at St Austell Brewery, said: “Operation Segregation is all about cutting waste at the source and ensuring valuable materials don’t end up where they shouldn’t. What’s been most inspiring is how quickly our teams have leaned into the change. When people understand the impact, positive behaviours naturally follow. This isn’t a project with a finish line – it’s the foundation for long-term cultural and operational transformation.”
Helen Sprason, Area Manager at St Austell Brewery, added: “I am incredibly proud of what our pub teams have achieved over the past year. Seeing the waste numbers come down month by month has been hugely rewarding, but the shift in mindset is even more important. Our dedicated teams have truly embraced the project, and I am so grateful for the energy and ownership they have brought to it.”
A defining achievement of the past year has been the improvement in St Austell Brewery’s waste data quality. Although its reported food waste tonnage increased slightly year on year (still, fewer than eight tonnes), this reflects business growth and improved segregation rather than a rise in actual waste. Previously, a proportion of plate waste was incorrectly placed in general waste.
With segregation now embedded and confidence in the data established, St Austell Brewery is launching phase two of Operation Segregation, focusing specifically on reducing food waste at source.
In November 2025, the business completed its first food waste audit. Using 2025 as the benchmark, the company is committing to a 10% reduction in food waste in 2026 and a long-term ambition to reduce it by 50% by 2030.
Operation Segregation sits within the brewery’s wider sustainability strategy – Crafting a Brighter Future – which includes a long-term commitment to eliminate edible food waste from operations by 2040 and transition towards becoming a zero waste business.
As Food Waste Action Week highlights the scale of avoidable food waste across the UK hospitality sector, St Austell Brewery hopes its practical, data-led approach shows how targeted interventions can drive meaningful environmental change.
