Our customers

On 11-12 July 2025, we joined Ascot Racecourse to celebrate all things sustainability at their Racing To Zero Summer Mile Weekend.

In 2022 Ascot Racecourse appointed Grundon as its dedicated waste management and recycling partner and since then we have seen great improvements in their recycling performance.

Grundon were delighted to be invited to join Ascot’s Racing To Zero Summer Mile Weekend, where we highlighted how waste and recycling is managed on site.

At the event, we had two stands, hosted by colleagues from across our Commercial team.

Indoors, we had a digital screen showcasing various initiatives Ascot have in place to support their sustainability goals. One example is sending their food waste to Anaerobic Digestion facilities where it’s transformed into nutrient-rich bio-fertiliser used by UK farmers. On the stand, we also offered interactive activities designed to engage Ascot colleagues and visitors – complete with the chance to win prizes.

Meanwhile outdoors, visitors were able to get a closer look at one of our electric waste collection vehicles, which is powered by non-recyclable waste collected from Ascot Racecourse and other customers.

Since partnering with Grundon, Ascot’s recycling performance has seen remarkable progress.

In June 2022, their recycling rate stood at 33.7%. Now, with a similar volume of overall waste, that figure has increased to over 60%.

Watch our video with Alex Grant, Sustainability Manager, to see the Grundon stands in action and hear more about how the event went!

Focused on three waste streams that are traditionally more difficult to recycle – compostables, paper towels and coffee cups – Grundon’s new RecyclePlus service guarantees 100% specialist recycling, providing organisations with another big tick in the box towards their sustainability targets.

Grundon’s Stephen Hill says: “While compostables such as plant-based cutlery and food trays have become increasingly popular – especially since the ban and restrictions on single-use plastics – the opportunities for correct disposal of these items aren’t widely available.

“The same applies to coffee cups and paper towels*, all three of these items need specialist reprocessing and, as a result, they all too often end up in general waste.

“RecyclePlus solves that problem by offering a disposal route for all three products via one simple collection service. Not only will customers significantly increase their recycling rates, they will benefit by reducing the weight of their general waste collections and their waste data will be even more detailed, helping to both meet waste targets and shape future sustainability programmes.”

*paper towel collection service only applies to Tork paper towels.

NHS trusts have the potential to achieve major carbon savings with Grundon’s new reusable sharps container service.

The service, developed in partnership with Inpress Precision, specialist manufacturer to the medical and healthcare sector, uses Sharpak Zero™ reusable containers. These save an average 87% of the carbon used within the lifetime of a container, thereby preventing millions of single-use containers being disposed of each year.

A recent trial at Hammersmith Hospital, part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, saw Sharpak Zero containers installed in two ICU units, which were chosen due to the high volume of sharps used. With staff training provided by Grundon and Inpress Precision, in just eight weeks the Trust saved 1.26 tonnes of CO2e, compared to disposal of its existing single-use sharps containers.

Innovative ideas are key to cutting carbon and, in 2023, Grundon launched the UK’s first proven nationwide inhaler return and recycling scheme.

With some 73 million inhalers dispensed every year by the NHS – estimated to account for 4% of all NHS CO 2 emissions – the ability to recycle inhalers and repurpose the greenhouse gases they contain, is expected to deliver significant carbon savings.

Successfully trialled with a number of NHS Trusts and Health Boards across England and Wales, the service has already won a prestigious Sustainability Award from the British Aerosol Manufacturers’ Association (BAMA).

Grundon is boosting its recycling capabilities by harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

With an AI robotic picker installed at its Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Bishop’s Cleeve in 2022, near Cheltenham, Grundon is speeding ahead with improved sorting and and recovery of HDPE and PET plastic.

Deploying sorting technology means greater volumes of raw materials can be captured and returned into the circular economy, ready to be made into new products.

The picker can target and pick up to 80 items a minute!