Young’s Pubs and SUEZ recycling and recovery UK collaborate to support local communities
In August 2023, Young’s and SUEZ launched the Wasteless Pub project, a two-year initiative that set ambitious recycling targets for its 272 pubs in 16 areas across London and the South of England.
As part of a commitment to protect the environment and enhance biodiversity, the pub group and recycling company have come together for a series of initiatives designed to help keep local areas clean and green. Activities have included organising litter picks and planting wildflowers across sites to installing bug hotels and much more.
Since its inception, the partnership has seen Young’s and SUEZ team up to deliver over 230 hours of volunteering and collect 137 bags of litter (approx. 685kg). In addition to this, a number of birdboxes and insect hotels have been installed at Young’s sites. The partnership has also seen Young’s sites planting wildflower seeds, herbs or vegetables and the donation of packs of used coffee grounds to customers for fertiliser.
Not only does this work go a long way in helping to protect and restore the environment, it has also raised vital funds for the pub’s chosen charity, Wooden Spoon, which has received a generous donation of £14,725.00 from SUEZ to date.
In addition to the community benefits of the partnership, Young’s has also seen an uplift of 5% in recycling rates across all of its pubs. Since the scheme commenced, some pubs even saw remarkable leaps, with top performers seeing a recycling rate increase of over 10%.
Chris Eldergill, Key Account Manager at SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, said: “Our partnership with Young’s keeps going from strength to strength and it’s fantastic to see how far our efforts are going in supporting local communities. Not only does the partnership deliver real social value through the various local projects and initiatives, it also supports Young’s in boosting recycling rates across its network of pubs. We’re delighted to be able to support Young’s on its sustainability journey and look forward to continuing our collaboration over the coming year.”
Aimee McDonald, Sustainability Manager at Young’s & Co. Brewery, P.L.C. comments: “Working with SUEZ is more than the day-to-day business of collecting and recycling our waste. We work together in partnership through the ‘Wasteless Pub’ initiative to engage our teams on the impact our waste has on our environment and how we can embed positive change by recycling waste through the correct streams. In turn, this has helped to increase our recycling rates through SUEZ by 5% within the last year. As pubs, we sit at the heart of our communities so supporting our neighbourhood and looking after our local area is a key role for our business.”