North Staffordshire-based Options Management is collaborating with BRITA in a water filter recycling partnership.
Options has long been at the forefront of greening up the UK’s vending scene. Back in 1999 it stepped up its commitment to greening up the industry, by installing recycling capabilities when the company made the move to new headquarters in Newcastle under Lyme.
Options was one of the first companies in the country to introduce reverse vending and developed smaller-scale a recycling where users get rewards for recycling their returned empty vended cups and cans. The company processes its vended cans, bottles, plastic and paper cups into 100% recycled products. With the closed-loop recycling concept, all processing is done in the UK, minimising the carbon footprint for customers and products.
Now, two decades of sustainability on, Options Management has further extended its recycling capabilities, beyond cups, bottles and cans and into the depths of the coffee machine itself. It has become the first UK BRITA filter recycling hub and is now accepting professional BRITA water filters commonly used in vending machines.
Until now, such filters have been destined for landfill, but Options Management is keen to step in and put a stop to that, with the full backing of BRITA behind them. BRITA’s filters have been recyclable for many years, but local users have been resistant to return them, and have simply thrown them away.
Options managing director, Paul Ure said: “It’s great to be able to encourage customers of BRITA water filters to simply drop the used filters in to our offices in Newcastle-Under-Lyme. We’ll recycle them, and as a thank you for using the scheme, we are donating 20p per recycled filter to local hospice the Dougie Mac. We’d urge all local users to do the right thing, let us reprocess the filters and reduce waste to landfill.”
Interested parties can use the handy “open all hours” drop off bin, located just outside the main gates to Options Management headquarters, at Silverdale Business Park in Newcastle Under Lyme, Staffordshire.
