BP Travel Marketing by Menzies Distribution launches recycling first for travel industry

BP Travel Marketing, by Menzies Distribution, today launches a free recycling initiative for travel agents across the UK. The scheme is being piloted for three months and will provide 150 agents across the south-east with special recycling bins.

The bins will be collected by Menzies weekly and have been specially designed for agency store rooms to provide an efficient and easy to use recycling system for brochure shrink wrap and plastic brochure wrapping. The materials are fully recyclable and the provision of designated bins and a collection service will ease the process for agencies to recycle waste more frequently.

The aim is to increase the amount of single use plastic recycled and then roll the initiative out further pending a successful trial. The pilot is being sponsored by Gold Medal and Travel 2, Hurtigruten, Intrepid, Norwegian Cruise Line, BP’s TradeGate and TTG Media.

Steve Martin, general manager of BP Travel Marketing, part of Menzies Distribution, said: “Hurtigruten’s Richard Adams and I came up with the idea when discussing environmental schemes and how to reduce plastic waste. It is such a simple concept, but we hope that the convenience of the scheme will result in a significant reduction in plastic waste. As an industry we want to do our bit to ensure that we have a more sustainable model for the future.”

Richard Adams, UK head of marketing at Hurtigruten said “We are thrilled to be piloting this new scheme which we think will have a significant impact on the amount of waste we produce in the travel industry. We worked with BP Travel/Menzies on the concept and are pleased that they have been keen to engineer the logistics to make this pilot work. It’s crucial that all firms do what they can to make their businesses more sustainable.”