Staff help ASDA reduce waste to landfill with can recycling scheme
Greenwise Staff
2nd July 2009
A feedback question by a member of staff about why they could not recycle at work has led supermarket chain ASDA to launch a drinks can recycling programme that will shortly be rolled out across all of its 360 stores nationwide.
The Every Can Counts campaign is being trialled during UK Recycle Week across 49 of the retail giant’s stores in the North West of England starting in Lancashire. Recycle Week runs from June 22-28.
It is part of ASDA’s initiative to send zero waste to landfill by the end of 2010, but the idea originally came from an ASDA colleague who raised the question "why can I recycle at home and not at work?"
The scheme, which is being funded by the beverage can industry and WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme), aims to recover the 30 per cent of drinks cans consumed outside the home where there is no access to kerbside collection.
Infrastructure exists to recycle every can consumed in the UK and reusing recycled metals can save as much as 95 per cent of the energy needed to make cans from virgin ores.
“We believe it is important that we make it as easy as possible for our colleagues to recycle,” said Jonathan Wylie, Waste and Recycling manager at ASDA. “We look forward to seeing a successful trial in Lancashire and then rolling out the programme to our other stores across the country.”
Every Can Counts is currently being briefed to ASDA staff via the company's internal communication networks and is supported with marketing communications materials to help increase collection rates.