Our Tatura site, where we make our Continental and Lipton Ice Tea products, is just one example of our how our people are thinking outside the box and proving that one man’s trash really is another man’s treasure.
In 2015, machinery and parts for our new manufacturing equipment at Tatura were delivered in timber containers, with approximately 45 tonnes of timber left on site after the installation was completed. Applying their zero waste mindset to the challenge of diverting this timber away from landfill, our employees found a number of different ways to upcycle this timber and create new, useful items from our waste.
In total, 90% of the timber was donated to Men’s Sheds in Tatura, Shepperton, Dookie and Stanhope, who transformed it into toys for underprivileged children in Australia and overseas.
Some of the remaining timber was donated to the wood turners club in Shepperton, where it was used to make children’s cubby houses and other wooden items. We even re-used some of the timber to refurbish meeting rooms and build new furniture at the Tatura Factory.
Embracing the zero waste mindset brought out the creativity in some employees. Wayne Rogers, Asset Manager at Tatura, showed off his passion for recycling, turning pallets and leftover packaging into decorative and sustainable Christmas trees. The trees were a big hit with our employees and their children at Tatura’s Christmas celebrations.
While we have achieved zero waste to landfill across our Australian operations, and Tatura is one great example, our work does not stop there. We have a bold ambition to extend this achievement across the whole value chain. To do this we are working hard to inspire a wide-scale movement, only through collaboration can we tackle this unprecedented challenge.