Circular economy for the commercial and collective catering industry
MEIKO warewashing technology helps saving tonnes of waste
UZAJE’s vision is to reduce the carbon footprint by endlessly reusing containers for solids and liquids in both commercial and collective catering.
The necessity of a circular economy
Co-Founder and President UZAJE Emmanuel Auberger sees the strong expectation from consumers and an awareness of citizens and businesses that commercial and collective catering must change their uses of packaging. It needs to move from a linear to a circular economy.
Using MEIKO solutions, UZAJE offers a turnkey service: management of reusable glass, plastic or stainless steel containers – equipped with a QR code to be traced – up to removal, sorting, washing and inspection, kits of communication for the appropriation of consumers. They take care of transport and the complete organisation of the reuse loop, too.
Clean a lot, consume little
Before the opening of their first industrial center the company had carried out several experiments in school canteens, commercial and company caterings, food distribution and home delivery. A quasi endless portfolio of dishes with different shapes, sizes and materials needed to be cleaned. The MEIKO challenge was to offer the possibility to wash a wide range of dishes while minimising energy consumption and guaranteeing optimal drying results all at once.
For UZAJE MEIKO realised a versatile washing line with two distinct applications. One for typical washing objects: jars, plates, gastro containers. And another one for standard containers: bins and transport crates. The warewashing company started out on two M-iQ conveyors. The complexity of defining the need was to anticipate the possibility of moving the machine to other development areas whether in the provinces or in the western part in Paris. MEIKO therefore decided in favour of the M-iQ flight type dishwashing machine based on its environmental performance.
« The consumption of water and electricity are the lowest which is very important for us. » says Gonzague Gru, Cofounder & partner at UZAJE.
MEIKO Service was directly involved, from planning, to installation, including post-commissioning adjustments.
Planning the future – making great savings
UZAJE plans new installations. They will add up to seven washing centers throughout France. With them the company will support players such as community schools, central kitchens and home porterage companies/ghost kitchens.
UZAJE will eventually process nearly 300 million units per year, which will represent savings of 28,000 tonnes of waste (½ plastic, ½ glass) and 5,5 million Euros in waste treatment savings. These savings are in the interest of politics, too. At the inauguration of the washing center in Neuilly-sur-Marne in France the Minister for the Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili underlined
the goal of the French state to increase the use of reusable dishes within two years in collective catering and to eliminate plastic containers from French school canteens completely by 2025.
