Brewery aims to reduce waste by 80%

St Austell Brewery manages 45 pubs

A brewery firm has launched a scheme to reduce the general waste in its 45 managed pubs by 80%.

St Austell Brewery, Cornwall, launched the initiative in partnership with Biffa, a waste management company.

There are aims to double the amount of waste being recycled as part of the plan and to hit the 80% target by the end of the year.

All St Austell Brewery's managed pubs have colour-coded bins which are divided into three sections: dry mixed recycling, food waste and general waste.

St Austell Brewery said it would educate colleagues on correct recycling and is rolling out a supporting employee encouragement plan to help drive engagement and participation.

It said this included a leaderboard for pubs, where the team with the highest reduction in waste overall would be rewarded with online vouchers to spend every quarter.

Helen Sprason, area manager and member of the sustainability steering committee at St Austell Brewery, said: "One of the first things we did when we started the project was to engage our pub teams about proper recycling."

She added last year St Austell Brewery successfully reduced total waste by 40%.

"We're confident this is one of the biggest waste management schemes to be undertaken by a pub company," she said.

Following the launch of the new waste scheme in its pubs, the brewery said it also planned to extend it across St Austell and Hare, its head office and depots across the South West.