UK: A reduced price waste glass collection ‘Carlsberg Green glass service’ could go national

A reduced price waste glass collection for licensees is being trialled by Carlsberg in partnership with Biffa Waste in Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield, RWM reported March 12. The drinks company wants to offer the service, called Carlsberg Green, to its 20,000 trade customers to make it easier for them to recycle.

Carlsberg customer operations manager Tony Richman explained that bins for mixed waste glass will be provided to licensees by Biffa at a cost of about £5-10 a week, from £1.75 a bin.

“Carlsberg are the first company to offer this type of service.

“Seven or eight years ago the bottles came in returnable plastic crates. But in the last four or five years this has changed, they are in a cardboard box now so customers couldn’t send them back.

“We felt we needed to do something to help our customers because we send out two and a half to three million bottles to trade a week,” Richman said.

“Initially we wanted to use our own collection wagons, but legislation prevented this, so we contacted a third party company, Biffa, which is doing it for us. At first we had trouble getting waste companies interested in the scheme, but then Recycling Action Yorkshire gave us a Biffa contact and we started working with them.”

The partnership will review the trials, which began on February 18 2008, in the next couple of weeks. Richman said that successful trials would result in a national roll out. He added: “I’d like to take it national sooner rather than later but the decision will depend on what Biffa says at the review.”

Carlsberg want to expand the service to include festivals. Richman said: “We’d be looking at collecting cans and plastic bottles.”

14 March, 2008