Unilever, the owner of tea bag brand PG tips, has joined forces with Brentwood borough and Chelmsford councils to launch a widespread advertising campaign which kicked off yesterday (May 14).
The campaign will see advertising placed throughout the boroughs featuring the iconic PG tips Monkey in a bid to drive tea bags out of landfill and into the food waste bin.
Funding for the campaign is being provided by Unilever but the company said it could not disclose the amount due to commercial sensitivity.
Paul Sherratt, global packaging and sustainability director of beverages at Unilever, said: To achieve the ambitious time-bound goals weve set out in the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, we need to collaborate with organisations such as WRAP and forward-thinking councils such as Brentwood and Chelmsford in order to encourage consumers to recycle wherever they can. Only through such partnerships can we really begin to tackle such challenges.
Unilevers tea bags are mainly made from organic material so we believe that putting them in with the rest of the household food waste will be a small habit change that everyone can adopt. The advertising campaign is about educating and advising residents to this simple change which we hope will have a great impact on the amount of tea bag waste going to landfill.
Unilever said that if the campaign is successful it would look to partner with other councils in the future.
In December 2011 the company has previously partnered with Torbay council in Devon to help promote its kerbside mixed plastic recycling service (see letsrecycle.com story).
Service
The launch of the campaign comes within six months of the councils introducing weekly food waste collections to their residents. Once collected, the food waste including teabags- is sent to an anaerobic digestion facility treatment.
Cllr Janette Potter, Chelmsford councils cabinet member for waste management and recycling, said: The council is committed to reducing waste and putting infrastructure in place for sustainable living. This goal is shared by Unilever, and by working in partnership on this campaign were encouraging residents to think about the life-cycle of food products and the treatment and disposal of waste in a responsible way.
WRAP
According to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) tea is by far the largest element of unavoidable food waste produced in the UK, accounting for approximately 370,000 tonnes of waste every year.
Marcus Gover, director of closed loop economy at WRAP, praised Unilever for the project and said he hoped that more businesses will follow their lead in taking responsibility for their products something which is being pushed by the coalition government.
He said: With 52% of local authorities now offering food waste collections, we encourage people to recycle as much of their food waste as possible. WRAP welcomes Unilevers initiative with Chelmsford and Brentwood as it demonstrates a real commitment to take responsibility for the whole life of their product. We need to see more of this kind of initiative.
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