Our head office recycling scheme is very successful, and now the vast majority of Pret shops across the country have customer and back of house recycling facilities. But did you know that no single local authority is able to offer a simple recycling solution to a company like us?

Recycling remains underdeveloped in the UK. There are few facilities for the amount of waste we (that’s all of us) generate. Whilst local councils provide ever-improving domestic recycling facilities, few offer simple solutions to businesses. We have to find our own solution.

After several prototypes, numerous set backs and no end of testing, we have finally launched recycling facilities in most Pret shops. It's been far from easy but, fingers crossed, we think we've cracked it. We've introduced 'co-mingled' recycling. This means all of our product packaging can be placed in a single bin ready for sorting later at the recycling plant. We don't need separate bins for cans, paper and plastic. This keeps it simple and ensures we can recycle as much as possible.

Since we launched recycling in 2008 we have steadily been improving our recycling rates month-on-month. In July 2008, we recycled only 2 tonnes of packaging, whereas by December we recycled 39 tonnes. These are still relatively small volumes but with your help we can improve our rates. Please play your part and follow the instructions on the recycling stations in our shops.

Believe it or not, 80% of Pret food (and packaging) is taken away by our customers. We want to encourage recycling outside of Pret and welcome the office-based recycling scheme operated by Closed Loop London (www.closedlooplondon.co.uk) which encourages customers to recycle in their workplace (where many eat their lunch).

For now, if you 'take away' from Pret, and depending on facilities in your area, you can easily recycle the majority of Pret packaging yourself. Here are a few points to help you…

Keep the packaging as clean as possible. As a rule, leftover food and drink can 'contaminate' recycling so empty cups of any liquid and scrape out leftover food. Rinse the packaging if need be.

If your waste collector does not operate co-mingled recycling separate the materials as directed.

The website www.recycle-more.co.uk might help.

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