We all love tubs of chocolate at this time of year and one environmentally friendly South West firm is asking us to donate the empty plastic tubs to raise vital funds for local charities once the sweet treats are gone.
The Recycle and Raise appeal has been launched by Exeter based DCW Polymers, which is asking the general public to donate plastic tubs for recycling to raise funds for Dartmoor Zoo and mental health charity, Mind.
Last year the campaign by the South West’s specialist plastics and recycling reprocessing plant raised over £1,200 for Dartmoor Zoo after recycling over 15,000 confectionary tubs which adorn supermarket shelves during the festive season.
After investing £280,000 in a state-of-the-art plastics processing machine earlier this year, DCW Polymers can recycle even more materials as part of this year’s campaign.
Confectionary, ice cream and cracker tubs, milk bottle tops and takeaway containers will all be collected as part of the Recycle and Raise campaign. All materials with a number five or PP symbol on the container which are donated to Recycle and Raise will be sent to the plastics processing plant in Exeter. Plastics will be shredded, granulated and sold back to the UK plastic manufacturing industry to make into new plastic products. All profits made from selling the plastic will be donated to Dartmoor Zoo, home of book and film We Bought a Zoo, and Mind, the mental health charity.
With an estimated £539m spent on confectionery over the Christmas period alone, there will be plenty of packaging to dispose of.
All plastic materials must be thoroughly washed before they are taken to dedicated drop-off locations. Currently, donations can be taken to Dartmoor Zoo in Sparkwell, the DCW Plymouth Depot on the Lee Mill Industrial Estate, the DCW Distribution Hub on Thorverton Road in Exeter or the DCW Enviro Hub at 13 Marsh Barton Road, Exeter.
DCW Managing Director, Simon Almond, said: “We’re delighted to announce the return of our Recycle and Raise campaign. It was an easy decision for us to run this campaign again as it was a roaring success last year. Thanks to confectionary lovers from across the South West, we raised an incredible £1,200 for Dartmoor Zoo and we hope to raise even more this time around.
“This year has been incredibly tough for us all, but charities have been hit particularly hard. This is why we’re keen to split the funds between two charities, helping them to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Our new plastics processing machine allows us to collect even more plastics this year including bottle tops and takeaway containers. With Halloween and Christmas just around the corner, start washing and saving those confectionary tubs and other household plastics. The more tubs and caps with the PP symbol or number five that DCW recycle, the more money can be donated to Dartmoor Zoo and Mind. We want to make it super easy for individuals to drop off their donations so if your business or school would like to become a drop off point, please do get in contact.”
DCW Polymers is looking for collection partners across the region for the public to drop tubs to. DCW will collect from you in bulk at the end of January. In particular, DCW need supporters in Torbay, Newton Abbot, Teignbridge and North Devon. If your business, school or organisation would like to get involved, please email emily@dcw.co.uk.
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