Recycling is in the news again with a new pilot programme in Scotland where nine organisations will maintain the schemes which will reward people based on how many empty cans and bottle they recycle. The discount vouchers can be exchanged for charity donations as well, based on user preference.
The way this pilot will work is that a number of vending machines will be positioned in various locations across the country near shops, events, retail outlets, schools and shopping malls, and it will run until September of this year.
Some of these nine groups include IKEA, Network Rail and Dundee University, all of which want to encourage recycling more goods and are willing to reward people for doing so. The rewards will include money, discounts or charity donations.
In total £900,000 was allocated to the pilot programme from the Government of Scotland and if it is successful, more such schemes could be rolled out again in the future. The government hopes that this will help reach its Zero Waste goal and encourage people to recycle all used drinks.
According to environment minister Richard Lochhead, these incentives will help where people would otherwise not see much benefit in recycling these items, and hopefully encourage more people to participate.
Every year there are 22,000 tonnes of plastic bottles still ending up in landfills which could be worth £6 million if they were recycled properly. This program will benefit future generations as it help people make recycling a part of their daily lives.