Lucozade Ribena Suntory (LRS) has appointed Ecosurety to oversee its soft drinks brands’ packaging compliance investment for 2018.
As part of the contract, Ecosurety has committed to increase their PRN sourcing from UK recyclers, resulting in tangible investments in visible UK waste infrastructure and education campaigns that highlight the importance of recycling.
Importantly this UK focus will ensure that LRS is not contributing to the current problem of recycling evidence resulting from the export of waste, which has traditionally been notoriously difficult to audit and has resulted in ocean plastic.
Michelle Norman, External Affairs and Sustainability Director at LRS – “We – along with our consumers – care passionately about what happens to our plastic bottles, and we support increased collection, reuse and recycling strategies.”
In 2017, 66% of plastic evidence was generated from exporting waste, with 34% of the money being used to support the price of the material, compared with just 15% of the UK’s PRN income being allocated to the same category. This unfair commercial advantage has made it attractive to export UK waste and Ecosurety believes commitments from leading brands, such as LRS, will help shape our UK infrastructure going forwards.
Michelle Norman, External Affairs and Sustainability Director at LRS, says, “We chose to spend our compliance money through Ecosurety because we were extremely impressed by their unwavering commitment to greater transparency inside the PRN system and the work the company has done to highlight the issue inside the waste industry. We – along with our consumers – care passionately about what happens to our plastic bottles, and we support increased collection, reuse and recycling strategies.
“Working with Ecosurety provides that peace of mind that we are going the extra mile to recycle our products, but also that our investment inside the waste and recycling industry will be as transparent as possible as the PRN system evolves and improves.”
James Piper, Managing Director at Ecosurety says, “Ecosurety does not look at simply what a company is recycling, but why it is doing so and what it hopes to achieve. By working with brands holistically, we are able to help them maximise change for good, so that they can impose the least impact on the environment, as well as provide vital funds for the waste and recycling industry and therefore help invest in UK recycling over the long-term.”