During the manufacture of self-adhesive labels, dozens of heavy duty cardboard cores are removed from material master reels every week and disposed of. We’re unable to use them for our reels of printed labels as they are the wrong weight for the finished products.

The disposal of large quantitities of the cardboard tubes hasn’t sat too well with us, so in an age when we all want to do our best for the environment by recycling we looked for options. We heard about Colchester Zoo’s environmental enrichment program where they provide a mentally and physically enriching environment specific to each species in their care so we contacted them to see if the cores could be of any use.
When the assistant curator, Liz Butcher, confirmed they would definitely be able to find a use for them we shipped two pallets off to Colchester Zoo straight away.

"In captivity, food and water is supplied, territory is already delineated, social groupings are usually fairly stable and structured, there are no predators to avoid, and quite often mates are selected for them. With all the extra free time, the animals have a need for new and entertaining or challenging activities. That is where the role of enrichment comes in. These cardboard cores will be ideal for our animal enrichment and we would definitely appreciate them in the future."

We were delighted to receive this beautiful photo of one their female African elepahants enjoying using the cores during feeding time. Lots more cores will be shipped off to the zoo over the coming weeks and months to be used in a variety of enriching ways.

For any additional information please contact [email protected].