We’ve been named the UK’s Recycler of the Year: This is how we did it
We’ve been named Recycler of the Year at the Environmental Packaging Awards!
Our progress in transforming waste management and delivering sustainable solutions across the UK was recognised with a top ‘gold’ award – reserved only for entries that set a new benchmark for excellence.
Over the past year, we’ve invested in strategic projects, partnerships and innovations that are paving the way to a more sustainable future. Here’s how we did it.
1. Investing in recycling infrastructure
- Building on our history of operating the world’s first commercially available rHDPE food grade production plant, we spent £16 million upgrading the facility in Redcar. Adding a third line for HDPE rigid plastic recycling added up to 24,000 tonnes of capacity and continues to improve the yield of material fed by our network of material recovery facilities.
- Expanded food waste collections with Keenan Recycling. This future-proofs us in our efforts to improve the cleaner segregation of food waste from recyclable packaging.
- Acquired two businesses that provide 360,000 tonnes of extra recycling capacity for the growing construction and demolition industry.
2. Increasing recycling rates for businesses and citizens
- Helped South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse councils stay in England’s top five for recycling. As well as kerbside collections of dry mixed recycling, we also collect household food waste to be transformed into electricity and bio-fertiliser. Just over 20,000 tonnes of compost is also processed each year from residents’ green garden waste.
- Grown our partnership with Mitchells & Butlers Leisure Retail Ltd, one of the UK’s leading restaurant and pub chains, to increase general environmental awareness and operational excellence to meet new legislative requirements, including diverting 14,000 tonnes of food waste to anaerobic digestion to produce electricity.
