Recycling venture scores at the Emirates

Closed Loop Environmental Solutions (CLES) and plastic packaging manufacturer, Coveris, have won a major contract with foodservice company, Delaware North, to establish closed loop recycling programmes for plastic cups at the Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal Football Club.

An initial 750,000 plastic cups made using a minimum 50 percent recycled PET from CLES’s sister company, Closed Loop Recycling, will be supplied by Coveris to Delaware North, with the volume expected to ultimately rise to in excess of 2,000,000 per year.

After use, the pint and half pint cups, which are all compatible with a closed loop programme, will be collected to be recycled again at Closed Loop Recycling’s Dagenham plant. The initiative is the first of a number of major food service contract wins for CLES.

CLES was launched in the UK to continue the work of Closed Loop in Australia, which has been pioneering closed loop programmes since the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The project is part of the UK company’s focus on the hospitality and foodservice sector, to supply sustainable food and beverage packaging that can be recovered under a ‘closed loop’ system.

“We are delighted to be pioneering this type of recycling loop in the UK,” commented Peter Goodwin, from CLES. “This is an example of supply chain collaboration, working in partnership with companies such as Coveris and Delaware North who truly appreciate the long term vision for a circular economy. This partnership is a fantastic example of how you can design solutions to prevent hundreds of tonnes of this resource ending up in landfill or being exported overseas.” 

Graham Barton, Coveris UK Rigid managing director added: “We are pleased to be working with CLES and Delaware North, two companies which share our sustainability vision and truly understand the commercial and environmental opportunities presented by using British recycled material. The leisure industry offers a huge opportunity for packaging companies and we see this agreement as the first of many in this sector, allowing us to close the loop on packaging.”

Paul Adey, acting managing director and CFO for Delaware North comments: “The hospitality industry in which we operate lends itself to the changing demands and innovations in packaging design which presents many opportunities for environmental and green initiatives. We are delighted to be working with Coveris and CLES at the Emirates Stadium and aligning our joint strategies and visions for the future in sustainable packaging. We are looking forward to working together on future projects across our portfolio.”