The mission

To further increase Young's Pubs recycling rates

Young & Co’s Brewery PLC, or more popularly known as Young’s Pubs, has been a SUEZ customer for over 15 years. SUEZ manages the company’s waste management operations, including food and glass waste, mixed recycling and general waste across the estate.

 

As part of its commitment to sustainable practices, Young’s Pubs once again joined forces with SUEZ on a project that aimed to increase recycling rates in all its locations. In turn, SUEZ offered to donate to chosen local charities and in communities served by the pubs.

220

pubs

participating

2

year

project

Our solution

Increased pub recycling rates through targeted incentives, education and community support

Young’s Pubs and SUEZ worked closely together and set the Wasteless Pub project in August 2023. The project, extending through 2025, has already started showing positive results in its initial stages.

 

Recycling targets were set for 16 areas with a total of 220 pubs participating based on their past performance. To ensure fairness, SUEZ and Young’s Pubs reviewed all the pubs’ past performance data and agreed on a target that allowed the whole estate to increase recycling rates by 10% on average. Key solutions included:

  • Incentivising change: SUEZ offered a £37,000 donation pool for local charities to encourage participating pubs to meet their recycling targets.
  • Educational empowerment: Informative materials and site audits helped the pubs optimise their recycling practices.
  • Community connection: Donations to local charities fostered positive relationships with the communities serviced by the pubs.
  • Transparency and awareness: SUEZ and Young’s Pubs teams worked on video production to showcase the journey of recyclable waste in pubs, raising awareness about responsible recycling.

 

These solutions were firmly anchored on the SUEZ triple bottom line approach that promotes the welfare of the people, the sustainability of the planet, and the success of partners and stakeholders.

The results

A 5% increase in recycling rates, health competition and positive industry recognition

Since the project’s start date, Young’s Pubs has seen increased recycling rates by 5% across its locations. In a couple of instances, the top performer increased its recycling rate from 75% to 78% while among the low performing pub boasted an increase from 60% to 70%.

 

With enthusiastic support and feedback from participating pubs, the project encouraged competition and helped position the company as a sustainability leader in the pub industry.

The company’s commitment to sustainable practices earned them 4th place recently in Which Magazine’s Most Sustainable Restaurant Chains rankings, with a score of 92% in waste and plastics use, minimising packaging, and not offering takeaways.

 

The project not only increased recycling in the pubs, but also benefitted local charities as well as encouraged ongoing improvement in pub recycling practices. Together, SUEZ and Young’s Pubs have built a strong partnership focused on continued waste reduction efforts.

 

This positive start to the project and continued activities will allow more pubs to fulfil their recycling targets and raise more money for charity.

Our partnership with SUEZ extends beyond waste collection and recycling. SUEZ helped us creatively engage our teams on environmental impact, boosting recycling rates by 5% through our "Wasteless Pub" initiative. They also helped us organise local events with a number of our pubs to keep our communities clean.
Aimee Macdonald , Young's Pubs Sustainability Manager