National initiative raises awareness of the importance of correctly reducing, reusing and recycling packaging
Sculpture puts emphasis on recycling at St Thomas More Catholic School in Wood Green, London
To mark National Recycling Week (11th – 18th November), Bidfood launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness in schools on how best to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic. The pioneering initiative – ‘Choose to Reuse’ – saw teams from nine of Bidfood’s depots, as well as its industry waste partner, Mitie, run interactive awareness sessions with almost 1,000 pupils on the impact packaging, including plastic, is having on the planet and the role each of us plays in making a difference. As part of this, pupils took part in a competition to design an innovative sculpture made from used plastic donated by each of the Bidfood depots, to act as a reminder of the importance of reusing and recycling, now and in the future. The winner from each school was awarded a sustainable prize donated by the depot team, and all those that took part received a certificate and goodies, courtesy of Mitie. In addition, the children and teachers were given ‘hints and tips’ guides and posters to help them better implement recommendations on a daily basis. Speaking about the initiative, Heather Angus, HR and Sustainability Director at Bidfood said: “We’re delighted with the success of our Choose to Reuse campaign, tackling the extremely topical issue of plastic, in line with National Recycling Week. As a business we are keen to support and educate on the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling products, where possible. “The campaign has enabled us to continue providing service excellence by supporting and educating our customers and local communities on this widespread issue and has identified how we can all play a part in making a positive change.” Talking about Bidfood’s interactive session, Jacques Abdou, Catering Manager at St Thomas More School, said: “Society is really starting to wake up to the fact that we need to take care of our environment due to the damage plastic waste is causing; that is why our school community jumped at the opportunity to work with Bidfood to raise awareness! “It is very forward thinking of Bidfood to organise this campaign and sculpture competition. It has been as great way to encourage the children to view plastic waste as something that needs to be tackled and to show them how it can be re-used in limitless ways.” Earlier this year, Bidfood launched a plastic-free range of 150 products; along with this, Bidfood’s depots are taking steps to eliminate single use plastics on site wherever possible.