Iceland’s Head of Format Development, Matt Downes, was crowned the winner of the #TooCoolForPlastic award at the UK’s first Plastic Free Awards, hosted by Surfers Against Sewage and the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation.
Presenting the award, Iceland Foods Managing Director, IFCF Trustee and Plastic Free Awards judge Richard Walker said: “At Iceland we have an amazing team of people making our bold plastics pledge happen – and thousands more out in the field talking to our customers, sharing their ideas and supporting us in stores. However, some people have made a truly outstanding contribution this year, going over and above their job remit to bring about real change.
“In 2018 we became the first retailer to undertake a national trial of reverse vending machines – understanding how they worked and what customers thought of them. We gave 10p for every plastic bottle returned to our stores – and with five machines we recycled an amazing million bottles. Matt was the person who put this plan together, worked long hours and drove thousands of miles to make the project a success. He truly is the Iceland 2019 TooCoolForPlastic hero”.
