Record-breaking year for Tub2Pub
This year’s Tub2Pub programme has collected over 240,000 tubs, equating to 27,990kg tonnes of plastic.
Greene King, the UK’s leading pub company and brewer, has collected a record number of plastic containers in its annual Tub2Pub recycling initiative for the fifth year running.
The polypropylene sweets and crackers tubs cannot be easily recycled in kerbside collections so people were invited to drop them off at their local Greene King pub to save them from landfill and, at the same time, raise money for charity.
This year’s Tub2Pub, which ran from January to mid-February, collected over 240,000 tubs, equating to 27,990kg tonnes of plastic. This is more than all previous years’ collections combined. Proceeds from the sale of the recycled plastic granules has raised £10,916.10 for Macmillan Cancer Support, Greene King’s charity partner.
Each year, more and more individuals, schools, community groups and businesses throughout the country have collected the plastic tubs left over from Christmas and new year celebrations for Tub2Pub.
Highlights from this year’s campaign include 2,500 tubs collected by Teddy, a six-year-old boy from Hampshire. His desire to ‘save the planet’ sparked a large media interest and his story was documented and broadcast on BBC TV and online news stories, being shared as far afield as the southern hemisphere on Yahoo Australia. Teddy visited the recycling plant to see tubs being shredded and then the plastic used to make furniture. He was then given a surprise presentation of a buddy bench made from recycled tubs for his school.
Tub2Pub shows how Greene King is embedding more sustainable ways of working across its
business through Greene King for Good, its environment and social programme, supporting its communities and reducing environmental impact.
Working with co-cre8 and DCW Polymers, Vance Fairman-Smith, Greene King’s group supply chain director, said: “What a year this has been. The 2025 total of 27,990kg and 240,000 tubs exceeds all previous years’ collections combined, a remarkable accomplishment!”
Georgia Harlow, co-cre8’s sales and marketing manager said: We are truly overwhelmed by the incredible support from communities across the UK in this year’s Tub2Pub! It’s such a fantastic example of the power of collective action in creating real environmental change – transforming ‘trash into treasure’, by creating new products and raising vital funds for Macmillan. A huge thank you to everyone who took their tubs to the pubs!”
Kate Lightfoot, Macmillan Cancer Support’s senior partnership development manager said: “Who knew empty sweet tubs could be so powerful? Tub2Pub is a brilliant, quirky way to bring people together, and raise money for Macmillan. Thank you to everyone who took their tubs into Greene King pubs, this is quite possibly the ‘sweetest’ recycling drive ever. And we mustn’t forget the serious message behind it: responsible recycling and vital support for the almost 3.5 million people living with cancer across the UK. Every tub represents not only a step towards a more sustainable future, but also a tangible contribution to Macmillan’s work. Our partnership with Greene King continues to make a real difference and proves that activity like Tub2Pub harnesses a powerful wave of positive change.”
To date, Tub2Pub has saved over 470,000 tubs from landfill and raised £34,824.90 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Look out for news of Tub2Pub 2026 later this year.