The 'McVitie's Biscuit Wrapper Brigade' fundraising scheme saved 2.5 tonnes worth of biscuit wrappers from the country's tips, the equivalent weight of four and a half Fiat 500 cars. It also raised tens of thousands of pounds for charities in the process. The wrappers have been made into new products.

The McVitie's Biscuit Wrapper Brigade was launched in the UK in 2012 in partnership with TerraCycle. Although biscuit wrapper material is recyclable, the partnership was established as UK councils currently do not have the infrastructure to recycle this type of waste packaging.

The TerraCycle process offers consumers to recycle by either depositing at their nearest drop off location or sending wrappers individually. Consumers are rewarded with two points for every biscuit wrapper sent in, with each point redeemable as a one pence contribution to the school, charity or non-profit of the senders' choice. To date over £35,000 has been raised for a variety of worthy schools, charities and non-profit organisations.

The collected waste biscuit wrappers are then recycled by TerraCycle with the resulting pellet material used to make a variety of generic plastic products such as park benches, watering cans and waste bins, reducing the need to extract new resources.

Stephen Clarke, TerraCycle UK added: "We were delighted when such an iconic brand as McVitie's partnered with us to take ownership of what happens to used biscuit wrappers in the UK.

"In saving one million used biscuit wrappers from landfill and the growth in collections month on month, the McVitie's Biscuit Wrapper Brigade is making a real difference in both saving waste from landfill and raising awareness of the importance of recycling."

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McVitie's Biscuit Wrapper Brigade