Tub to Pub

Greene King is the UK's leading pub retailer and brewer, with 2,750 pubs, restaurants and hotels across the country. Founded in Bury St Edmunds in 1799, it employs around 40,000 people across its main trading businesses: Pub Company, Pub Partners, and Brewing & Brands.

The company is committed to reducing its environmental impact and operating sustainably. In 2020 it achieved the Carbon Trust's Zero Waste to Landfill Standard, and it runs a range of initiatives to reduce its impact on the environment.

Millions of tubs of chocolates, sweets and biscuits are sold in the UK each year, with the Christmas period accounting for the largest share of sales.

These tubs are made from polypropylene, which many local authorities find hard to recycle. Where that is the case, the tubs are either landfilled or incinerated.

Tub to Pub was a scheme created by co-cre8. Greene King became the primary partner, using its pub network to facilitate collection.

In January 2021 the national campaign launched together with co-cre8 and DCW Polymers, turning tubs into much-needed funds for Greene King's national charity partner, Macmillan Cancer Support. co-cre8 applies its specialist knowledge of hard-to-recycle materials and is responsible for attracting large businesses to support the campaign.

During the programme, consumers and businesses were encouraged to drop off used plastic confectionery and biscuit tubs at participating Greene King managed pubs, restaurants and hotels across the UK. The tubs were taken to DCW Polymers, whose reprocessing plant shredded and granulated them ready for sale to manufacturers. The recycled material was used to make products including garden furniture, with proceeds from sales donated to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Across five annual collection periods from 2021, the programme collected 26,253kg of plastic, around 230,000 tubs, raising £23,908 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The scheme also generated social value well beyond the material. Six-year-old Teddy from Hampshire, with the help of his mum Laura, collected a staggering 2,500 tubs after writing to his school, posting notices at local businesses and collecting tubs from neighbours. In recognition, his school was gifted a buddy bench made from his recycled plastic tubs, with a plaque from Greene King, co-cre8, DCW Polymers and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Teddy caught the attention of the national media and was interviewed on BBC South Today. He also spent a day at DCW Polymers, helping to load tubs onto the conveyor belt ready for shredding. Public engagement of that kind helped make the voluntary collection scheme work.