By Bec Cotton
Australian Coopers Brewery has found great success with its recycling program, providing a significant boost to South Australian charities.
Initially introduced in 2006 as a cost saving measure, the program involves recycling material such as cardboard, glass, aluminium and old machinery and has since raised more the $380,000 for the philanthropic Coopers Brewery Foundation.
“We were spending a significant amount of money to dispose of waste material to landfill and it was likely that these charges were going to rise in the future,” explained Chair of the Foundation, Melanie Cooper. “It quickly became obvious that the waste had value and we could raise money by recycling it. We decided that any money raised in this way should go to the Foundation.”
The Coopers Brewery Foundation makes quarterly grants to charitable organisations with recognised strengths in medical research and health care, youth education and aged care an in fostering family and community support. Recycling joins contributors to the Foundation such as the proceeds of tours, speaker fees for any Cooper family members and concerts at the brewery and an annual Foundation golf day.
In total, the Foundation has raised and distributed more than $2 million to a total of 120 charities for 144 individual projects.