Team BMW begin a major push towards a more sustainable future this weekend at Donington as the reigning British Touring Car Champions move away from single-use plastic bottles.

Every member of the team, which is operated by Sunbury-on-Thames-based WSR, will be issued with a reusable personalised bottle thanks to long-time Colin Turkington partner SAP Business by Design.

Bottles will be given to all team members including drivers, technicians, logistics, catering and promotional staff in a bid to eliminate the reliance on single-use plastic bottles from now on.

Currently up to 400 plastic drinks bottles are used per race weekend by team members, adding up to as many as 4000 across a 10-round season.

While every effort is made by the team to ensure used plastics are recycled by Chambers Recycling, around 5.5-million of the 13-million bottles discarded annually in the UK are either landfilled, incinerated or littered – creating 233,000 tonnes of Co2 emissions and highlighting the need for action*.

The move to reusable drinks bottles is the first step of a wider set of initiatives designed to create a more environmentally-sustainable way of working and racing for WSR.

Carl Mitchell, Team Manager, said: “This is a really positive first step towards more sustainable processes at WSR and Team BMW and our thanks go to SAP Business by Design for their support. We know we can’t change the world overnight, but if we encourage each other to make small changes to live more sustainably, then everybody benefits. This is a first step towards a wider reduction in single-use plastics at WSR, both at the racetrack and at base. The BTCC is on the front foot for positive change, as the switch to a hybrid powerplant and a more sustainable fuel for 2022 are proving. We hope our action will inspire our friends and supporters from across the BTCC community to follow suit as we all look to a greener future.”

Matt Sinclair, Head of SAP Business One and Business by Design UK & IRE, said: “We’ve enjoyed a successful relationship with Colin Turkington in the BTCC for a number of years, so when the opportunity arose to support a plastic-free approach by Team BMW and WSR, we were delighted to become involved. The shift to a greener future has never been more relevant for the motor industry and this is clear to see with the move to a hybrid system by the BTCC for 2022. Team BMW and Colin Turkington set the bar for many things within the series and I hope that with this small change, we can help trigger a greater positive movement within the paddock.”