Fisher Scientific has been awarded the prestigious Green Apple Gold Award for Environmental Best Practice on behalf of the company's laboratory chemical bottle collection, wash and recycling facility.

Fisher Scientific collects bottles and associated packaging directly from customers after use. Each bottle is then washed, dried and inspected to ensure that it is suitable for re-use. Through this process, the company handles a half-million glass and plastic-coated glass bottles per year. Approximately 50 percent of the bottles are deemed suitable for reuse, while the rest go to recycling companies to be crushed and melted down into other glass products.

Through this program, Fisher Scientific is doing its part to be a more sustainable business, and it is helping its customers fulfil their own missions to reduce waste. Together, the company and its customers are doing their parts of reduce, reuse and recycle.

The Green Apple awards are given by The Green Organisation, an independent, non-political, non-activist, non-profit environment group dedicated to recognising, rewarding and promoting environmental best practice around the world. The Green Organisations' work began in 1994, and experience has shown that many have followed the examples of environmental best practice demonstrated by their Green Apple Award winners. Previous winners include Tesco, Anglian Water, Arrow Distributors, Balfour Beatty/Skanska joint venture, Canary Wharf Contractors, Champney's Resort, Environmental Crop Management Limited, Europa Quality Print and The GSH Group.

The general manager for Fisher Scientific Northern Europe commented, "We are delighted to receive this award as it recognises the efforts we, as a company, are making to implement better environmental business practices."

The award was presented, at the House of Commons, on the 10th November 2008.