Banner has put its environmental values into action at one of the UK’s busiest beaches. Over 60 Banner employees plus family members and friends took part in the company’s first-ever Beach Clean at Scarborough’s South Bay. 

The teams worked up and down the beach and the surrounding area and collected over 28kgs of plastic, glass and assorted waste. Banner, which is committed to actively engaging with local communities and protecting the natural environment, carried out the clean from 11am in the morning until 3pm in the afternoon.

The event, run in association with the charity Surfers against Sewage, was organised by Banner’s Head of Facilities Supplies, Andy Whiting. The transport and lunch was provided by Banner and employees were able to use their annual paid volunteer day to take part.

Andy said, “it was incredible realising how much waste needed collecting. We picked up such a wide variety of rubbish from sandwich packets to broken dog leads – all of which could have ended up in the sea.

“We were delighted to organise the Beach Clean because protection of the natural environment has been really important to Banner as a business, and many of us as individual employees, for a long time. As a company, we have a number of initiatives in place, including reducing consumption of single-use plastics by 30 per cent by 2020 and ensuring zero waste to landfill.

“Being able to do this and make a difference was really important and we’re really delighted that Banner people have done their bit to prevent a significant amount of plastic and waste from reaching the ocean.”

Support also came from several Banner suppliers, including Essity, who provided re-usable water bottles, Newell Brands, who donated essential beach cleaning equipment, Future Garments, who gave all volunteers a t-shirt and Gojo, who brought along hand sanitiser for all participants.