B&Q introduces in-store collection points to recycle plastic pots
B&Q is rolling out in-store collection and recycling stations for plastic plant pots, with customers able to return pots that will be recycled into new plant pots.
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The home retailer has confirmed that it has installed plant pot recycling stations for people to drop off unwanted plastic plant pots. Pots will be collected and turned into new pots to keep the material in the loop.
The recycled pots will be available to purchase at B&Q stores, retailing at £4.
B&Q’s head of quality and sustainability Samantha Dyer said: “As a business we want to make a positive difference through tangible actions and continue to put innovation at the forefront of our approach to helping our customers make more sustainable choices.
“These new recycling stations will allow us to repurpose something that would normally be discarded and help us in our goal to make more sustainable choices easier and more convenient for our customers.”
Sustainability approach
B&Q is building toward circular economy principles as part of its “Responsible Business” approach. To date, the retailer has diverted 99% of its waste away from landfill and has a target in place to ensure that, by 2025, 100% of its wood and paper products will be responsibly sourced.
Additionally, the company is aiming to have 70% of its sales come from products that meet a “Sustainable Home Product criteria”. Currently, this figure sits at 57%.
B&Q is targeting net-zero emissions across its operations by 2040.
Last year, the company joined a taskforce aimed at addressing Scope 3 emissions. The taskforce has been co-ordinated by EDRA/GHIN, the global trade bodies for the home improvement retail sector, in the hopes of coordinating methods used for measuring and disclosing Scope 3 emissions.
The founding members of the taskforce are Adeo, Bunnings, Cainz, The Home Depot, Hombach, Kesko, OBI, Sodimac and Kingisher, the parent company of B&Q and Screwfix.
Learnings from the taskforce will be shared more broadly with EDRA and GHIN members. Collectively, these bodies convene more than 220 retailers across 78 national markets.
Registration is now open for edie’s Circular Economy Action Sessions, two back-to-back webinars featuring experts and end-user businesses such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and BSI, to help sustainability professionals implement closed-loop products and systems. Click here to register.
Will customers be able to take other peoples unwanted plastic pots to save on the remanufacturing process to turn them into pots?
It seems to me that if you have a pot that is usable then it is best to give it the opportunity to be used it as a pot rather than manufacture it into another pot first.