Tuesday 24th February 2015.
A.G.Barr brings an Xtra boost to Clean Up Scotland Campaign.
A.G. Barr, Scotland’s leading soft drinks manufacturer, best known for
making Scotland’s 'other national drink' IRN-BRU, has pledged its support for
the Clean Up Scotland mass-engagement campaign organised by Scotland’s
charity for the environment, Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB).
The Clean Up Scotland Campaign aims to change long-term behaviour and attitudes
in Scotland by making littering unacceptable. It encourages people across the
country to sign the pledge and become anti-litter champions in their local
communities.
Roger White, Chief Executive of A.G.Barr has signed a personal pledge to do his bit
to clean up Scotland and is inviting the company’s Scotland based employees to do
the same.
The company which sells twelve 330ml cans of IRN-BRU every second alongside
brands like Strathmore Spring Water, Barr flavours and Rubicon will also organise a
local clean up near to their North Lanarkshire base and encourage their Scottish
based retail customers and suppliers to sign the pledge and help KSB to build on the
work they are already doing to tackle littering in Scotland.
This endorsement is a welcome boost to Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Clean Up
Scotland campaign which is focussed on making Scotland clean and green, today in
for the future.
Derek Robertson, Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful said:
“A company such as A.G.Barr demonstrating their support for the Clean Up Scotland
Campaign sends a powerful message to businesses and consumers in Scotland.
The business community is brilliantly placed to use its networks, resources and
activities to improve the environments in which we live and in which they operate.
Thanks to its heritage and place in Scottish people’s hearts, A.G. Barr’s
endorsement of Clean Up Scotland is a big part of the national coalition we’re
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building – taking action against the neglect which affects our great country. As the
leading soft drinks company in Scotland, AG Barr is in a position of influence over
not only those who sell its products, but also those who drink them. Anything that
can be done to reduce litter from food and drink packaging is to be encouraged and
we welcome their support.
“Our challenge as we look to 2015, is to encourage more businesses and members
of the community to take the Clean Up Scotland pledge, and help us in our ambition
to make Scotland the cleanest country in Europe.”
Roger White, Chief Executive of A.G. Barr said:
“Scotland is a beautiful country and we all have a responsibility to keep it that way.
Litter is a blight on our landscape and as a responsible company we want to play our
part in encouraging everyone to do the right thing and dispose of their soft drinks
packaging properly. Getting behind the Clean Up Scotland campaign was an obvious
step for us given the excellent work that the organisation is doing and builds on the
work we are already undertaking on littering and recycling in Scotland.
We are looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and getting stuck into a local clean
up and would encourage our customers and consumers to do the same in their local
area and keep Scotland beautiful today and for future generations.’
Aileen McLeod, Minister for Environment, Climate Change & Land Reform,
said: “”
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
1.
Keep Scotland Beautiful is the charity that campaigns, acts and educates on a
range of local, national and global environmental issues to change behaviour and
improve the quality of people’s lives and the places they care for. It is committed to
making Scotland clean, green and more sustainable. Further details at
www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org .
2.
Clean Up Scotland is:

a mass engagement anti-litter campaign that is working to make Scotland the
cleanest country in Europe, led by the independent charity, Keep Scotland
Beautiful

assembling a national coalition for action to challenge our individual
relationships with litter

leading community clean-up activities to tackle the carelessness and illegal
behaviour of those individuals who damage our quality of life and tarnish the
country’s image

working to change long-term behaviour by making dropping litter as socially
unacceptable tomorrow as drink driving is today asking everyone to take the
first step by taking the Clean Up Scotland Pledge at
www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/pledge
3.
'Barr Soft Drinks is the UK's leading independent manufacturer of branded soft
drinks with an annual turnover of over £254m. Established by Robert Barr in Falkirk
in 1875, the company now produces a large range of soft drinks including IRN-BRU which is seen by many as part of the culture of the Scottish Nation - Barr flavoured
carbonates, Rubicon exotic juice drinks, KA, Strathmore Spring Water, Snapple
(under a license agreement with Snapple Beverage Corporation) and Rockstar
energy drink (under a license agreement with Rockstar Inc USA).
A.G.Barr also own Funkin cocktail mixers and employs over 1000 people across 9
sites in the UK.
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All Barr packaging : cans, PET, glass and cartons are recyclable and the company
is a signatory of the 2013 Courtauld Commitment phase 3 which aims to encourage
more recycling, reduce the carbon impact of grocery packaging, and reduce waste
from household food and drink, packaging and the supply chain. Barr’s are also a
funding partner of ‘Every Can Counts’ together with Zero Waste Scotland and Alupro
an ‘on the go’ recycling scheme for drinks cans which aims to raise awareness of the
benefits of recycling, promote behaviour change, create awareness of the value of
cans and provide a method to collect and recycle them. All Barr’s packaging carries
the Keep Britain Tidy logo and the OPRL scheme which provide consumers with
consistent information about the recyclability of packaging. The company has also
removed the equivalent of 26.5 million 500ml plastic bottles from the market over the
last 10 years through the company's PET lightweighting programme.
Barrs have fully adopted the UK Gov'ts new Front of Pack Labelling scheme and
have pledged to reduce calories across their portfolio as part of the Governments
Responsibility Deal Calorie Reduction pledge. In the first year of the pledge Barrs
have reduced the average calorific content across their portfolio by 3% against their
5% target.
4.
Clean Up Scotland is supported by the Scottish Government through its Zero
Waste Scotland programme.
5.
Media enquiries to Message Matters: Peter Duncan on 07740 469 949
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