Record-breaking public support for greene king’s tub2 pub recycling campaign saves over 240,000 plastic tubs from landfill

Greene King, the UK’s leading pub company and brewer, has collected a record number of plastic  containers in its annual Tub2Pub recycling initiative for the fifth year running.

The polypropylene sweets and crackers tubs cannot be easily recycled in kerbside collections so people were invited to drop them off at their local Greene King pub to save them from landfill and, 
at the same time, raise money for charity.

This year’s Tub2Pub, which ran from January to mid-February, collected over 240,000 tubs, equating to 27,990kg tonnes of plastic. This is more than all previous years’ collections combined. Proceeds 
from the sale of the recycled plastic granules has raised £10,916.10 for Macmillan Cancer Support, Greene King’s charity partner.

Each year, more and more individuals, schools, community groups and businesses throughout the country have collected the plastic tubs left over from Christmas and new year celebrations for 
Tub2Pub. 

Highlights from this year’s campaign include 2,500 tubs collected by Teddy, a six-year-old boy from Hampshire. His desire to ‘save the planet’ sparked a large media interest and his story was  documented and broadcast on BBC TV and online news stories, being shared as far afield as the southern hemisphere on Yahoo Australia. Teddy visited the recycling plant to see tubs being  shredded and then the plastic used to make furniture. He was then given a surprise presentation of a buddy bench made from recycled tubs for his school.

Tub2Pub shows how Greene King is embedding more sustainable ways of working across its business through Greene King for Good, its environment and social programme, supporting its communities and reducing environmental impact.

Working with co-cre8 and DCW Polymers, Vance Fairman-Smith, Greene King’s group supply chain director, said: “What a year this has been. The 2025 total of 27,990kg, and 240,000 tubs exceeds all previous years' collections combined, a remarkable accomplishment! 

“These results show what can be achieved when businesses and communities work together. Huge thanks to everyone who has collected these tubs and taken them to their local pub. The beauty of Tub2Pub is its simplicity. Don’t put the tub in the rubbish bin, just take it to your local and you’re doing your bit for the planet and people. Teddy alone has shown us all what can be achieved!”

Georgia Harlow, co-cre8’s sales and marketing manager said:We are truly overwhelmed by the incredible support from communities across the UK in this year’s Tub2Pub! It’s such a fantastic example of the power of collective action in creating real environmental change - transforming ‘trash into treasure’, by creating new products and raising vital funds for Macmillan. A huge thank you to everyone who took their tubs to the pubs!”

To date, Tub2Pub has saved over 470,000 tubs from landfill and raised £34,824.90 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Look out for news of Tub2Pub 2026 later this year.