A WATER filter company based in Oxfordshire has won a prestigious award following its efforts to operate in a more sustainable way.

BRITA UK won a Silver Green Apple Award for Environmental Best Practice in the Products and Recycling Wastes Management category.

The award was presented last month at a special ceremony at the Houses of Parliament in London.

Bryan Edwards, BRITA UK’s professional and services warehouse manager, who attended the event, said he is grateful for the help of Grundon Waste Management.

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He said: "We are absolutely thrilled with the award, but for us, the waste journey has not been achieved overnight. You have to have a structure and embrace the waste hierarchy, and to understand how that works, you must talk to experts like Grundon Waste Management.

“Without them behind us we wouldn’t have been able to achieve such success. James understands how and what we do, and he knows what our business needs are. This is not just about selling waste collection services, it is the expertise and knowledge that makes a difference.”

BRITA UK produces millions of water filter cartridges a year for distribution worldwide.

Grundon provides waste management services at the company’s UK headquarters in Granville Way, Bicester.

BRITA UK was keen to increase recycling and identify new opportunities to improve how it disposes of different types of waste, both of which have been achieved with Grundon’s support.

Among the changes has been the sending of unwanted or empty aerosols to Grundon’s specialist aerosol recycling plant, plastic cups replaced with cardboard ones at drinking stations, the recycling of damaged wooden pallets, and over 207,000kgs of waste sent for recycling in just one year.

The company says it continues to meet its commitment for 100 per cent diversion from landfill.

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James Standen from Grundon, said: “We are absolutely thrilled at BRITA UK’s success, which is richly deserved. They are to be congratulated on all their achievements and we are proud to have worked alongside them to deliver these improvements. Well done to everyone.”

The Green Apple Environment Awards were launched in 1994 by The Green Organisation to recognise, reward and promote environmental best practice around the world, and have become well established as one of the most popular global environmental campaigns.

It has now extended into the Green World Awards with entries from Governments, Ministries and regional authorities as well as companies and organisations across the entire private and public sectors.

BRITA UK sell products such as water dispensers, water filter jugs, bottles, carafes and tap filters.

It has a regeneration plant in Bicester where used cartridges which are returned to one of over 1,900 recycling points across the UK, are brought back there to be sorted.

They are then sorted and opened and the three different materials are separated so they can each be processed and recycled.

The company says it is committed to acting responsibly towards its employees, the environment and society.