Royal Ascot bets on re-use revolution

The re-use revolution is going to the races next week, after Royal Ascot announced it is to replace disposable plastic glasses with re-usable alternatives that will collected, washed, and re-used each day.

Ascot Racecourse announced it has set a target to wash over 500,000 plastic glasses of all kinds during the five-day Royal Meeting next week.

The company said it was working with re-use specialist 'Re-Cup', which will provide over 200 dedicated bins around the race course to allow glasses to be collected and washed.

Around 350 dedicated staff will also be appointed to collect glasses and ensure as many as possible remain in the 'closed loop' that will allow for glasses to be washed and re-used.

"This is a very exciting moment in our sustainability journey," said Jonathan Parker, director of food and beverage at Ascot. "We are asking our customers to return their Re-Cup glasses to any bar when they have finished or to put them into the dedicated, clearly branded 200+ bins across the site.

"We will also have people scouring the site to collect from tables, picnic areas and such like. The glasses then get separated at six Re-Cup compounds and taken to the washing facility at Tilbury Docks, and then they come back to us. Each cup has an approximate 100 servings life."

Collections from the racecourse will leave the site between midnight and 2am every night with the facility able to wash 150,000 Re-Cups in a 24-hour cycle. Any broken cups will be sent directly to be recycled, the racecourse said.

Parker said the company had worked to ensure the process is as streamlined and convenient as possible for race-goers.

"No deposit is required from customers as we don't want to inconvenience anyone," he said. "All we ask is that our visitors join us in committing to making a significant difference by reducing plastic waste."

The hope is the service can be deployed more widely at large sporting events. "Re-Cup has been in operation in the Premier League and at Lord's but this is by far and away the biggest project they have ever worked on," Parker said. "The Lord's Test is expected to see about 50,000 washes."

The initiative is the latest in a series of re-use trials as companies seek to crack down on plastic waste. This week Starbucks and Gatwick Airport announced a new trial to enable the use of re-usable cups inside the airport, while a host of consumer goods firms have launched packaging re-use models in recent weeks.