Two horticultural brands have joined forces to provide gardeners with a solution to plant pot recycling, preventing further plastic waste ending up in landfill.
Sustainable plant pot designer, elho, has partnered with nationwide garden centre retailer, Dobbies to provide plastic plant pot recycling bins across 69 of its centres. This will make it easier to reduce unnecessary plastic waste in the garden and prevent further plastic waste ending up in landfill.
It has been widely reported that kerbside recycling of plant pots is challenging. Policies vary significantly from council to council, particularly when it comes to black plant pots, which can leave gardeners at a loss with what to do with their disregarded pots.
Gardeners can now take their plastic plant pots and trays to Dobbies’ stores for them to be recycled. The bins provide a simple means of disposing of plant pots in a convenient and environmentally friendly way, rather than having them clutter up garden sheds or adding to landfill.
This initiative comes as new research from Dobbies Garden Centres reveals that 35% of gardeners want to recycle more of their garden waste products this spring. The survey was based on responses from 2,003 UK adults between 4 March and 7 March 2022.
Chris Buck, northern account manager at elho, explains: “We’re pleased to be working on this initiative with Dobbies to encourage gardeners to recycle their plant pots, and to make it incredibly easy for them to do so. It’s great to be working together to collect plastic garden waste and give it a second lease of life, instead of sending mountains of it to landfill. We wanted to help provide gardeners with a simple, convenient solution to dispose of their plant pots in an environmentally friendly way. When visiting the centre to buy more plants, simply return your old pots – it couldn’t be easier!”
Marcus Eyles, horticultural director at Dobbies Garden Centres, adds: “We are always looking for ways to embed sustainability into our operations, and this is a positive step forward in our #SustainableDobbies journey.
“We also know from our own research that this is also something our customers are increasingly passionate about, and while we have encouraged pot recycling for a number of years in-store, these new bins provide customers with a clear message and opportunity to recycle.”
