Icon films

Icon Films is a Bristol-based production company, with its main office housing over 90 people. GENeco worked with Icon Films to provide food waste recycling collections and overcome issues associated with a busy city centre location.

"At Icon Films we have a passionate workforce and a Green Team who do everything they can to reduce our carbon footprint. We buy local, recycle, have reduced our single use plastic and coffee cup usage and wanted to do something about our regular office food waste. One of our team discovered an article about the Bio-Bee and it was perfect to take away our weekly coffee grounds, teabags, food waste and flowers. We’ve persuaded Creative England, based in our office on another floor, to join us and so we share our GENeco bin with their people too. Over the last year the amount of food waste that has been converted to bio fuel gas been enough to power the Bio-Bee over 650 miles. That’s from our office to John o’ Groats!"

Tracy Patfield Operations Manager at Icon Films
Iconfilms Bin

Their challenge

Icon Films is an independent production company based in the centre of Bristol. The team specialises in making natural history and factual programmes in some of the world’s most diverse landscapes and are passionate about reducing their impact on the environment. For example, staff had previously taken part in litter-picking, worked with organisations like City to the Sea, and shunned the lift opting only for the stairs. Food waste generated in their self-catered office space was being taken home by an employee for composting.

Our solution

Since March 2018, GENeco has been recycling food waste from Icon Films’ offices in central Bristol on a weekly basis. We are able to accept all types of food waste, including meat and bones, which wasn’t previously being composted.

The food is collected in the Bio-Bee, which is powered by biomethane generated from the food waste it collected. Its small profile means the vehicle can easily access narrow lane to the bin store, and the clean nature of the fuel means it is not contributing to poor urban air quality in the city centre.

Due to its central location and on-street bin storage, Icon Films had previously experienced vandalism and contamination with its recycling and were very keen to find an ultra-secure solution. GENeco adapted a standard 240L wheelie bin with a specialist combination lock to overcome these issues whilst ensuring ease of use for the Icon Films team.

The results

We are now recycling roughly 40kg per week from Icon Films; to date this totals over half a tonne of inedible waste that creates renewable energy and biofertilisers. The carbon savings from landfill diversion of this food waste is equivalent to driving a car over 1,000 miles, or a passenger flying to Rome!

The energy produced from this food waste is enough to charge an iPad over 4,000 times or power the Bio-Bee for 225 miles.

A highlight of the partnership has been a visit to Icon Film’s offices to deliver a ‘Learn at Lunch’, where employees found out what happened to their recycling. We look forward to continuing to work together.