A deposit return scheme is rolling into action two years before the official launch, in a tie-up with college students backed by Coca-Cola Europacific Partners.
Students at the Motherwell, Coatbridge and Cumbernauld campuses at New College Lanarkshire, Scotland, will trial a financial incentive to encourage recycling through the use of reverse vending machines (RVMs) installed to test the response to the technology.
Environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful is partnering with the college and CCEP to introduce a 20p reward – redeemable at the university’s canteens – for every can and plastic bottle recycled through the RVMs during September.
The study will build on learnings from a previous campaign between the charity, CCEP and the University of Strathclyde, which tested various interventions and messaging to encourage students to recycle and think about their waste disposal choices, as well as their motivations for recycling.
Scotland, which had been due to be first with the launch of a DRS before its plans were shelved, has been at the heart of trials of DRS.
Last year, Lidl launched a pilot scheme across Glasgow with customers claiming a 5p reward redeemable against their next shop or as a charity donation, for every eligible empty plastic or aluminium drinks container returned to a reverse vending machine in any of the 21 Lidl stores in the city.
“Giving students the chance to live with a deposit return scheme – something that will soon be a part of everyday life – will allow us to see first-hand how people interact with RVMs in reality,” said Jo Padwick, senior sustainability manager at CCEP.
“Hearing directly from students over four weeks will give us honest, human insight into both the practical and behavioural barriers to adoption, as well as what really motivates them to take part.”
Barry Fisher, chief executive at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “We’ve learned from previous campaigns what encourages positive recycling behaviours by students and hope that this 20p incentive will motivate more people to recycle plastic bottles and cans.”
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