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‘Shop and drop’ to recycle and raise funds for charity

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Visitors to Exeter city centre can now recycle plastic bottle tops and tubs at a brand-new drop-off point in Princesshay Shopping Centre and help contribute to a more circular economy.

Leading South West plastics recycling and reprocessing plant, DCW Polymers, has partnered with the popular shopping destination to run its Recycle & Raise scheme all year round. The plastic recycling scheme which asks the public to donate plastic tubs and bottle tops to raise funds for Dartmoor Zoo and mental health charity mind, was previously operated by DCW Polymers only over the festive period.

Now, shoppers can take their plastic tubs and bottle tops throughout the year to the new Recycle & Raise drop-off point stationed outside Princesshay’s Bee Hive Information Centre, The Hive. Located in Bampfylde Lane between Superdry and Chandos Deli, donations can be placed in the Recycle & Raise collection bin 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The most popular items donated are plastic confectionary tubs, but keen recyclers can also donate ice cream, biscuit and cracker tubs, milk bottle tops and takeaway containers. The materials with a number five or PP symbol on the container that are donated to Recycle & Raise will be sent to the DCW Polymers recycling plant in Exeter where they will be shredded into granules. The granules will then be used in manufacturing DCW Polymers’ recycled plastic furniture range, which will raise approximately 8p per tub recycled for Dartmoor Zoo and Mind.

Trevor Gomm, Operations Manager at Princesshay, said: “We are really pleased to partner with DCW Polymers on the Recycle and Raise project in the Centre.”

Last year, the campaign raised over £4,000 for Dartmoor Zoo and Mind. Since its launch in 2019, Recycle & Raise has raised over £5,200 for charity with DCW Polymers collecting the equivalent of 65,000 tubs.

DCW Polymers Business Support Manager, Emily Almond, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Princesshay Shopping Centre on board as our latest Recycle & Raise partner. With 13.4 million people visiting Princesshay every year, we hope the new drop-off point will be inundated with donations, ensuring that we can raise vital funds for charity all year round and not just over the festive period.

“As a Zero to Landfill company with a passion for creating a more sustainable environment, we like to partner with like-minded businesses. It feels like a natural fit for us to collect Recycle & Raise donations from The Hive which was built in 2012 as part of Princesshay’s ongoing commitment to sustainability. So, please bring your clean, empty tubs and tops with you next time you head into the city centre and help us Recycle plastic and Raise money for charity.”

Donations can also be taken to temporary Recycle and Raise drop-off locations across Devon until Monday 28th February 2022. Visit www.dcw.co.uk/about/recycle-raise to locate your nearest drop-off point.

Recycle & Raise fundraising announcement!

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Recycle & Raise 2020/21 fundraising success!

Having raised over £1,200 for Dartmoor Zoo in our first year of Recycle & Raise, we weren’t sure what to expect when lockdown 3.0 was announced in the middle of the 2020/21 collection…

However, our worries and fears can be forgotten, as we are so pleased and proud to announce that the 2020/21 collection has raised… *drumroll please*

£4,096.60!

This is a wonderful donation, being split 50/50 between Dartmoor Zoological Park and Mind! This money will make a huge difference for both charities.

Thank you to each and every one of the 100+ businesses, schools and organisations who have accepted donations on our behalf throughout November 2020 through to March 2021. From the amazing people who have had mountains of tubs stacked in their garages (and front rooms!), to the people who saved their tubs and donated in the wind & rain of winter, to those of you who shared the adverts with your friends – THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! We really couldn’t do it without you.

When we had this brainwave back in 2019, seeing stacks of tubs in the supermarkets and wondering if we could do something amazing with the plastic, we never expected to be here 18 months later having raised over £5,300 to date and counting!

We’re so pleased to let you know that Recycle & Raise is back – this time all year round! You can now donate your plastic bottle tops to any DCW Polymers depot throughout the year! You can find out more here: Recycle & Raise is back – all year round!

Of course, from the end of 2021, you will be able to donate your empty plastic tubs to a huge variety of drop-off points across the South West through our amazing collection partners. From November to February, over 100 local businesses join forces to accept your donations! Keep an eye out at the end of the year to see where you can take your confectionery tubs! If you’d like to sign up as a collection partner, just email [email protected] 

Since 2019, Recycle & Raise has been running with the aim of recycling huge quantities of plastic and raise money for charity!

Recycle & Raise your clean milk bottle tops throughout the year!

What happens to the tubs now?

Even more excitingly for this year, we are pleased to say that the PP and HDPE plastic from the tubs and bottle tops will go directly into our Polymers manufacturing centre, where we will use the plastic to make our NEW Recycled Plastic Furniture! We’re so proud that plastic collected in the South West will now be made into benches sold in the South West. Who knows – you may end up sitting on a bench made with tubs you once ate sweets from!

The Exeter Bench & Table Set
The Exeter Bench & Table Set

Recycle & Raise 2020/21 Charities

Dartmoor Zoological Park

Dartmoor Zoological Park is a unique zoo set in 33 acres of beautiful parkland on the outskirts of Plymouth. The Zoo’s CEO Benjamin Mee wrote a book about buying the zoo called We Bought A Zoo, which was later became the subject of a major Hollywood film starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johannson! The Zoo registered as a charity in 2014 which has strengthened it’s future and opened up new and exciting opportunities. DCW Polymers has worked closely with Dartmoor Zoo since our MD became a trustee of the charity, and we partnered with them for our 2019 Recycle & Raise campaign! With the Covid-19 restrictions affecting visitor numbers this year, Dartmoor Zoo need our help!

Mind

Mind is a mental health charity who provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. Covid-19 restrictions have affected everyone in different ways this year,  it’s still very uncertain times which is why it is so important to shine the light on mental health and provide support to those who may be struggling.

Recycle & Raise campaign for 2020 is launched!

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DCW Polymers launches our Recycle & Raise campaign for 2020!

Last years’ Recycle & Raise campaign was hugely successful, we recycled over 15,000 tubs and reached over 250,000 people online! Having raised over £1,200 for Dartmoor Zoo last year, we have high hopes that this year will be even bigger and better!

While it has been a difficult decision as there are so many worthy charities that need support, our chosen charities for this year are Dartmoor Zoological Park and Mind – a mental health charity.

This year we can Recycle & Raise with even more materials, so please start washing and saving your containers for us!

What can we Recycle this year?

  • Confectionery tubs
  • Ice cream tubs
  • Cracker tubs
  • Milk bottle tops
  • Takeaway containers

Look for the number 5 or PP symbol on the container!

All materials donated to Recycle & Raise will be sent to our plastic reprocessing centre in Exeter, where we will shred the plastics and sell on to manufacturers in the UK, to use in place of virgin polymers. All profits raised will be donated to our two chosen charities, Dartmoor Zoo and Mind.

Shredded plastic containers
This is what the containers look like when they have been through the shredder!
Example of confectionery tubs that we can we recycle for the Recycle & Raise campaign
Example of confectionery tubs that we can we recycle for the Recycle & Raise campaign

Recycle & Raise Drop Off Locations

We are looking for more partners for this years’ Recycle & Raise campaign to collect and store containers on our behalf. If you are willing to support us and collect on our behalf, please contact Emily Almond by emailing [email protected] to receive the marketing pack and be included on our list!

You can find your local drop-off point on our interactive map below! This will be updated as more collection partners join us.

Recycle & Raise 2020 Charities

Dartmoor Zoological Park

Dartmoor Zoological Park is a unique zoo set in 33 acres of beautiful parkland on the outskirts of Plymouth. The Zoo’s CEO Benjamin Mee wrote a book about buying the zoo called We Bought A Zoo, which was later became the subject of a major Hollywood film starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johannson! The Zoo registered as a charity in 2014 which has strengthened it’s future and opened up new and exciting opportunities. DCW Polymers has worked closely with Dartmoor Zoo since our MD became a trustee of the charity, and we partnered with them for our 2019 Recycle & Raise campaign! With the Covid-19 restrictions affecting visitor numbers this year, Dartmoor Zoo need our help!

Mind

Mind is a mental health charity who provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. Covid-19 restrictions have affected everyone in different ways this year,  it’s still very uncertain times which is why it is so important to shine the light on mental health and provide support to those who may be struggling.

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