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Shortlist: Linpac Group, DS Smith Speciality Packaging

Winner

Linpac Group

Linpac was a finalist in this category last year but has stepped up to be a deserving winner in 2008. It took its environmental message public when it partnered with the BBC's Inside Out programme in July to highlight the challenges in recycling plastics and the current collection schemes offered by local authorities. The company has a keen focus on the environment internally, too. In 2007, Linpac completed 260 energy-saving projects and, at the end of the year, became the first plastics thermoformer to obtain membership of the Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme (EEAS). A further 207 new energy-saving projects are underway this year.

In May, Linpac established an internal environment group, the Green Team, which works alongside Plastics Europe, the British Plastics Federation (BPF) and Packaging and Films Association (PAFA) to find solutions to the issues facing the plastic packaging industry. The company has consequently created an Environment Key Facts booklet for distribution among staff and customers.

Linpac Recycling, meanwhile, is a European leader in the recycling of post-consumer plastic and recycled more than 36,000 tonnes of used plastic last year.

Only this summer, Linpac Packaging invested £3m in thermoforming and extrusion equipment at its West Yorkshire plant and it is now able to produce recycled PET (rPET) packaging in the UK. The investment in equipment at Featherstone supports Linpac's production of Rfresh rPET trays for fish, meat and poultry.

This award was sponsored by Ardagh Glass