Supermarkets Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi are among the first retailers to back the biggest ever trial of a digital deposit return system, which could see a return to the days of getting your deposit back on drinks bottles.
The three-month trial has been described as a “whole different ball game” to anything that has gone before, according to The Grocer magazine. It will start in Welshpool, Powys, Wales, in September and will monitor how the town's 3,000 households respond to a 10p reward for recycling drinks containers.
The trial will cover almost 800 items at every food and drink retailer in the town, including soft drinks, water and ambient products, although alcohol and multipacks are excluded. Customers will scan the containers before recycling them, then claim their reward through an app.
Read more: Aldi poised to topple Morrisons as the fourth most popular supermarket
The digital deposit return scheme will be the first to include glass and carton recycling, and users will be able to scan products before they are recycled both through kerbside collections and at collection points in the town. The move comes as the Government is expected to release more details on its plans for deposit return schemes in the next few days, including the role digital could play.
“This is by far and away the biggest trial of digital deposit return schemes to date,” said Duncan Midwood, CEO of Circularity Solutions, who is spearheading the trial for the DDRS Alliance. “The previous biggest had around 4,500 returns, with this one we are anticipating around 200,000. We have the involvement of all the retailers, from Tesco down to the local kebab shops who sell a few cans per week and with the likes of Coca-Cola supporting us, so we believe this could be a landmark moment in proving the potential of a digital system.”
The trial uses individually labelled stickers on drinks containers, which in the future Midwood said would be printed on to the labels during production. Consumers will scan products before they are recycled in kerbside home collections, but collection points and an automated return point in Tesco will also be available. Convenience stores in the scheme will also accept returned containers.
Customers taking part in the trial won’t have to pay a deposit for the products, Those who take part in the trial will not have to pay a deposit for the products, but if the scheme is introduced more widely, a deposit would be charged on the containers.
Now read:
- Ditching meat to save money could end up costing you more
- Little-known tip for Boots advantage card holders to get extra points
- Free school uniform exchange helps Tyneside families recycle, reuse and save cash
- More than 100 jobs on way as Sunderland recycling plant moves a step closer
- South Tyneside man, 63, sees ASBO escalated to Criminal Behaviour Order after neighbour complaints
