UK shoppers get £30k in first supermarket trial using reverse vending machines for plastic bottles

Children were 'particularly engaged' with the scheme and some were seen encouraging their parents to use the machines

Shoppers have earned the equivalent of more than £30,000 by recycling plastic bottles in the first supermarket trial using reverse vending machines to cut down on littering.

The scheme, introduced by the Iceland supermarket chain, rewards people with a voucher worth 10p for every deposit of a plastic bottle bought at the shop.

The trial involved the installation of a machine in four stores - in Wolverhampton, Mold, Fulham and Musselburgh - as well as Iceland's head office, in Deeside.

New figures show that 311,500 plastic bottles have been recycled since the scheme was rolled out in June.

The supermarket said children were "particularly engaged" with the bottle recycling scheme, and even taught and encouraged their parents to use the machines.

Richard Walker, Iceland’s managing director, said: “Iceland has continually led the way in the fight against the scourge of plastic since making our announcement to eliminate plastic from our own-label product packaging. The launch of reverse vending machine trials in our stores is one sign of this.

"We’ve gained hugely valuable insights into both consumer interest and the functionality of the schemes, and it’s clear from the results that consumers want to tackle the problem of plastic head on and would be in support of a nationwide scheme.”

Iceland became the first UK supermarket to install reverse vending machines but others have quickly followed their lead. Tesco, Morrisons and the Co-op are all carrying out trials but are yet to publish their results.

Will McCallum, head of oceans at Greenpeace UK, welcomed the results of the trial and urged the government to ensure similar schemes are rolled out so plastic containers of all shapes and sizes can be recycled.

He said: “The success of Iceland’s reverse vending machine trial demonstrates that deposit return schemes to boost recycling and tackle plastic pollution are both popular with consumers, and eminently doable. We hope that other retailers follow suit. However, we can’t just rely on businesses to tackle the problem of throwaway plastics; we also need leadership from government. Michael Gove must deliver on his promise to introduce a deposit return scheme without delay."