Today, over 1,100 UK colleagues from Pernod Ricard UK, Chivas Brothers and the Global Travel Retail business will come together to support circular making projects ranging from plastic removal to upcycling and more. The united effort across England and Scotland is to mark Pernod Ricard’s annual ‘Responsib’All Day’.
Responsib’All Day is an annual global event which sees 19,000 Pernod Ricard colleagues around the world dedicate time and resources to support the group’s long-term global sustainability commitments. The day also offers teams the opportunity to work with local communities and share convivial celebrations with their colleagues.
Teams will be supporting a wide variety of projects inspired by circular making including upcycling workshops, recycling initiatives and even collecting waste plastic which will be transformed into a boat to be used for plastic fishing. Circular Making is one of the primary focuses of Pernod Ricard’s Sustainability & Responsibility Roadmap ‘Good Times from a Good Place’, which was revealed in April 2019 and outlines its environmental and social commitments up until 2030. This commitment is to minimise waste at every step of the manufacturing process, by reusing and recycling as much as possible to ensure the production and distribution of its products and experiences are optimised to help preserve natural resources.
The boat that waste plastic built
Chivas Brothers employees will be donating over 2,100 man-hours, partnering with water charities Keep Scotland Beautiful and Thames 21 in Scotland and London respectively to collect discarded plastics from waterways and community spaces.
That waste plastic will then be processed and transformed into a 13-person punt, which will be donated to Keep Scotland Beautiful to allow the charity to increase its efforts to remove plastic from Scotland’s waterways. The boat will also be used to host events and community initiatives to inspire others to consider their own plastic usage.
Giving back where it’s needed most
Pernod Ricard UK will donate more than 1,800 man-hours to nine projects across England dedicated to improving communities through reusing and upcycling waste products in partnership with Works4U. Ensuring national scale, employees were based in London, the North and South West regions, supporting the following charities:
- Cultivate London, provides carpentry workshops for unemployed young people
- London Children’s Book Project, donates books to schools and nurseries most in need
- Forest Recycling, London, provides free reclaimed paint to new housing association residents
- Butts Farm, London, provides play areas to those living in low income social housing
- Heronway Allotment, London, provides vocational employment opportunities in horticulture and farming
- Petit Miracles, London, teaches people how to upcycle discarded furniture
- Plymouth Beach Clean, clears microplastics from a local beach
- Bristol Marine Conservation Society Beach Clean, collects microplastics to be recycled
- Plastic Shed, provides opportunities for people to work together to turn plastic waste into useful items
Responsib’All Day forms part of Pernod Ricard UK’s on-going Force For Good programme, which encourages employees to volunteer their time year-round to charities either close to their heart or in support of the business’ over-arching S&R Goals.
Aurelie Kane, Communications and Corporate Affairs Director of Pernod Ricard UK, said:
“We are thrilled to be able to support so many projects across England that focus on minimising waste whilst supporting those in need. So many useful and practical things go into landfill which could help other people. The benefits of circular making are immeasurable, so we want to inspire people and businesses to adopt this approach.”
Therese Coffey, Environment Minister, commented:
“Pernod Ricard’s annual Responsib’All Day is a fantastic demonstration of the commitment businesses and workforces can make to help our natural environment. Together we can move away from being a ‘throw-away’ society, to one that leaves our environment in a better state than we inherited it.”
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