The Story

Across NHS Tayside’s ten bustling coffee shop areas, thousands of cups of tea and coffee are served daily – many of which require a splash of milk. Until recently, this meant a steady stream of plastic milk cartons piling up behind the scenes, contributing to both high recycling costs and environmental waste. Recognising the need for a smarter, more sustainable solution, the team launched a simple but impactful initiative: replacing traditional plastic milk containers with eco-friendly milk bags (ecobags). 

This small change has delivered big results. By switching to ecobags, NHS Tayside has cut down milk container waste by an impressive 87%, saving £2,600 annually in waste management and recycling fees. But the environmental impact tells an even stronger story. Each year, the switch prevents the use of 3,840 bin bags, avoids filling 77 skips with waste, and reduces the organisation’s plastic waste output by 355kg.