Today (worst case)
2 L plastic bottles
HDPE bottled milk · single-use
- Units / year—
- Plastic mass—
- CO₂e—
- Disposal cost—
- Handling labour—
Dairy Pitch Calculator
Live side-by-side cost comparison · bottles · bag-in-box · reusable kegs
L / week
A typical café at 200 L/week works through ~100 × 2 L bottles per week, or ~15 BiB pergals.
Foodservice standard
Bag-in-box
13.62 L pergals · most cafés today
- Pergals / year—
- Plastic + card—
- CO₂e—
- Disposal cost—
- FOH labour (loaded)—
- Bag-split loss (4%)—
- Over-ordering drag—
The Udder Way
Reusable kegs
18 L · HACCP-certified plastic · zero single-use
- Kegs in rotation—
- Single-use wastezero
- CO₂e (vs BiB)—
- Disposal cost—
- Handling labour—
- Split / loss—
- Over-ordering—
Switching from 2 L bottles → TUW kegs saves
—
per café, per year
Switching from bag-in-box → TUW kegs saves
—
per café, per year
Operator-cost figures cover packaging disposal, foodservice handling labour, and (for BiB) the typical 4% bag-split loss plus over-ordering drag. Keg costs are amortised across the rental fleet — operator-side cost of waste is genuinely zero. Cup-of-coffee margin is not affected; this is below the line.
How the numbers are built
All figures are for a single café at the volume shown above, over 12 months.
- Plastic mass · CO₂e
- PlasticsEurope Eco-profiles 2020 + WRAP lifecycle data.
- Bottle disposal cost
- —
- BiB disposal cost
- WRAP UK Gate Fees 2024-25 + 24-site bin-lift share, applied to ~510 g pergal waste.
- Labour rate (bottles)
- —
- Labour rate (BiB)
- UK NLW 2025/26 (£12.21) + employer NI 15% + pension 3% + holiday accrual ≈ £22.50/hr loaded foodservice rate.
- BiB split-loss rate
- Industry-observed 3–5% BiB bag-split rate, 4% midpoint × £12.50 milk lost per pergal.
- Over-ordering drag
- Estimated drag from over-ordering + spoilage caused by no per-site usage data on BiB.
Figures are indicative. Real numbers vary by venue and supplier. Use this as a conversation starter, not a contract.