Great Britain : SME punishes staff for bringing single-use plastic into the office in bid to reduce environmental impact

This unprecedented case was initially flagged by the HR-focused press in the UK. Intelligent Hand Dryers, based in Sheffield, in northern England, has attracted attention for having banned its dozen or so employees from bringing single-use plastic into the office. Whether it’s a coffee cup, plastic bottle or a sandwich pack, employees that bring in any single-use items containing plastic will get a warning from the company’s management. After three warnings, repeat offenders will be fired. The measure was introduced last month and is a rule that is soon to be included in each worker’s employment contract, according to boss Andrew Cameron, who is highly committed to protecting the environment. He says: “I have been driving my staff mad about reducing our environmental impact… They have heard me banging on about turning the lights off, complaining about all the packaging in the bins and wasted paper, lecturing about the environment.” Cameron underlines: “We have to walk the walk.” In exchange, Intelligent Hand Dryers has given workers re-usable bottles and supplies cakes and fruit so they don’t need to bring packaged snacks into work. It should be highlighted that, from 2021, single-use plastic will be banned across the European Union.