Glasgow Airport has donated £150 to a Renfrewshire community larder following a trial of Reverse Vending Machines within the terminal.
The machines were installed last year as part of a pilot project to encourage passengers and staff to recycle more of their cans and bottles. Glasgow Airport pledged to donate 5p for every item deposited.
The money has been awarded to local sustainability organisation LEAP Together, which received £3000 from the airport’s FlightPath Fund to establish Lochwinnoch Community Larder earlier this year.
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The Fund had previously awarded LEAP £2800 to help purchase a low-emission vehicle for its community car club.
The final total raised was £134.85, which was rounded up to £150 and matched funds by waste management partner Biffa.
Tori Bell, project officer, at LEAP Together, said: “We’re really grateful for this award from Glasgow Airport and the match funding from Biffa. It has come at a crucial time for us as we see the project grow.
“This kind of support really helps us and our community. We’ve had excellent support from the Airport since our award from the FlightPath Fund and we’re discussing many different ways we can work together going forward.”
Based in Lochhead Gardens and operated by volunteers from LEAP Together, the community larder redistributes surplus foods from local supermarkets that would have been destined for landfill, which reduces unnecessary food waste, production and the logistics of disposal involved.
More than 165 families access the community larder each week.
Kirsty Webster, Sustainability Manager at Glasgow Airport, said: “How we work with and support our local communities is a key pillar of our Sustainability Strategy, which was launched last June.
“LEAP provides a wide range of sustainably-themed community projects across Renfrewshire and its Lochwinnoch Community Larder is a fantastic example of how groups can support their local communities in a way that has a positive impact on the environment.”
Reverse Vending Machines help to boost recycling by providing a dedicated return point for cans and bottles and will play a role in the national Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) due to go live in August 2023.
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