KPMG has signalled its support for current campaigns to reduce single-use plastic and has announced the firm will stop using plastic water cups across its 22 offices in the UK by the end of the summer 2018, in a move that will save three million cups every year, and reduce costs by £60,000
A pilot in the firm’s Manchester office saw plastic water cups phased out during March, with the 1,100 employees there receiving a free metal water bottle to use instead. The switch will save more than 150,000 plastic cups each year in Manchester alone. The rest of KPMG’s UK offices will now follow suit.
Sarah Lindsay, KPMG’s environment manager, said: ‘After giving our employees two weeks to collect a bottle, we removed the cups from all water points in our Manchester office. We made paper cups available so people would still have access to drinking water if they didn’t have their water bottle with them for any reason.
‘We had less than 10 requests for a cup on our first cup free day, which just shows how committed our people are to this important agenda.’
Lindsay said the project delivered substantial environmental benefits, as employees could use the reusable bottle outside of work hours as well. Staff are encouraged to download the ‘Give Me Tap’ app, which they can use to locate free drinking water when they are out of the office.
Along with the positive environment impact, there is also a clear business case, Lindsay said.
‘The firm spends £60,000 on plastic cups every year. Even with supplying each of our 15,000 employees with a free metal water bottle, the scheme is projected to pay for itself within 18 months,’ she said.
The removal of plastic cups is part of KPMG’s 'Waste in our Time' programme, which will also see the firm phase out the use of plastic cups from its hot drink vending machines by August 2018, saving an additional three million cups per year.
Lindsay said: ‘We are looking at two possible options to replace these, either a paper cup or a compostable cup, and these will be implemented on a site by site basis depending on the waste facilities available in the area.
‘We have already removed the use of plastic straws from our offices and we have also saved over a quarter of a million items of plastic cutlery this year by removing them from some of our smaller offices. We will be doing the same across the entire firm by the end of the year.’
KPMG in the UK is also supplying KPMG Malta with water bottles for staff as it looks to follow suit by removing plastic cups from use.
Report by Pat Sweet
