The team at uninterruptible power supply manufacturer Riello UPS is showing lots of bottle in their fight to reduce plastic waste.

Every member of the 70-plus workforce at the award-winning power protection business has been given their own reusable stainless steel drinks bottle as part of the company’s promise to completely eliminate single-use plastics.

The move comes hot on the heels of several other environmentally-friendly initiatives introduced to cut plastic use throughout Riello UPS’s entire operations.

It has replaced all disposable plastic cups with ceramic containers, swapped plastic water bottles for guests with glass, and substituted plastic drinks stirrers with organic bamboo alternatives.

In addition, Riello UPS has also changed its milk supplier. Rather than receiving its dairy supplies in standard plastic bottles or cartons, the company now gets fresh milk delivered in a cardboard box lined with a Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) bag.

Once used, the cardboard is recycled while the LDPE bags are used to generate energy from waste. Riello UPS currently goes through 12 four-pint plastic bottles of milk a week on average each weighing 50 grams, meaning it will save nearly 600 bottles and 30 kg of plastic waste over the course of a year.

As well as helping to reduce plastic use, the new method of milk storage is cutting the amount of milk the power protection specialist wastes too.

Its milk is stored in a specially-installed chilled dispenser from start-up business Milk In A Box. This means it can last for up to five days once opened and 11 days unopened, a 40% increase on the lifespan of milk kept in a standard plastic bottle in the fridge.

Leo Craig, General Manager of Riello UPS, explains: “The amount of plastic waste we all generate causes huge harm to the environment. A single plastic bottle can take up to 450 years to fully decompose.

“We all share the responsibility to do something about this issue and to safeguard our planet for future generations.

“The steps we’ve taken with our milk supplier and eliminating single-use drinks bottles are relatively small changes in our day-to-day lives, but they have the potential to add up and make a big difference, especially if other organisations follow suit.”

About Riello UPS:

Riello UPS Ltd is a leader in the manufacture of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and standby power systems from 400VA to 6MVA. The company is part of the Riello Elettronica group which has support offices in 80 countries.

Riello UPS products combine engineering excellence with high-quality performance and energy efficiency, to enable reliable power for a sustainable world. Our award-winning product range includes 22 solutions for powering the smallest desktop PCs to the latest supercomputers used in advanced data centre operations.

The UK branch of Riello UPS is located in Wrexham, North Wales, where we operate from large purpose-built premises comprising office and training facilities as well as a fully-stocked warehouse. This enables an end-to-end service of comprehensive technical support and fast product dispatch.

As part of the Riello Elettronica group, Riello UPS is an official sponsor of the Ducati Corse MotoGP and Aruba.it Racing World Superbike Championship motorcycle racing teams, as well as an official partner of the Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler team in the FIA Formula E Championship for electric cars.

For further information please visit www.riello-ups.co.uk or contact marketing@riello-ups.co.uk / +44 (0) 1978 729297.