At this year’s Wimbledon Championships, CLUBZERØ and Barclays are partnering for a second time to serve ice cream in returnable pots – a move hoped to cut down on single-use waste as attendees wait to enter the Grounds.

Apparently, a mass sporting event in the UK can generate up to 7 tonnes of waste. As the Official Banking Partner of The Championships since January 2023, Barclays previously teamed up with CLUBZERØ to serve juice to Barclays customers in returnable cold cups as they waited to enter the grounds; the effort was expected to replace single-use packaging and halve CO2 emissions.

Now the companies have joined forces again, this time serving strawberries and cream-flavoured ice cream in CLUBZERØ’s Perfect Pot food container range. Provided in the Game, Seat, Match Area, these pots have been designed in-house to withstand temperature, remain durable, and achieve customer satisfaction.

Once used, the Perfect Pots can be returned to CLUBZERØ’s ‘new and improved’ Drop Point Boxes, designed to serve as convenient drop points to return packaging at large sporting events. Zedify’s ‘emission-free’ electric vehicles will collect the packaging for daily service, after which they will be redistributed.

“Our perfect pots are the newest addition to our returnable packaging range, following months of rigorous development with our customers and partners,” said Safia Qureshi, founder and CEO of CLUBZERØ. “It is critical to establish standards for returnable packaging and we are thrilled to be pioneering this through our continued work at the Championships, Wimbledon in partnership with Barclays.”

CLUBZERØ is not the only company implementing reusables at Wimbledon. Back in 2022, Evian and Reward4Waste (now re-universe) came together to implement a digital deposit return and consumer reward scheme. By scanning a unique QR code at recycling points, as well as the barcode on their Evian container, participants could enter a draw for two pairs of tickets to the 2023 Women’s Finals.

Last year, it provide players with refillable bottles that could be used during matches, as well as in practice courts, dressing rooms, and restaurants. A refill system has also been implemented for spectators at this year’s tournament, with the intention of encouraging refill and reuse behaviour throughout the day.

Source- Packaging Europe, 2024. https://packagingeurope.com/news/clubzer%C3%B8-and-barclays-serve-ice-cream-in-reusable-pots-at-wimbledon/11583.article

11th July 2024