Telegraph.co.uk
By Louise Gray,
Environment Correspondent
31 May 2009
Households will be able to claim money off Marks and Spencer underwear, Subway sandwiches or a cappuccino from Coffee Republic in the first scheme in Britain to reward people for recycling.
People with microchips installed in their bins will earn points towards money-off vouchers according to the amount of waste they recycle.
Under the pilot scheme in Windsor and Maidenhead, people will be able to track their points online and then go and claim their rewards in participating local shops.
It is expected the average household will produce enough recycling to be able to claim around £150 every year, although the number of points awarded will be capped to stop people deliberately generating waste.
Previous attempts by the Government to encourage recycling through fortnightly bin collections or installing microchips in order to impose “bin taxes” have proved unpopular.
However, the pilot reward scheme is expected to be more popular and could be rolled out to hundreds of thousands of households in Britain in the next two years.
Participating companies include Marks & Spencer, Legoland Windsor, Subway, Coffee Republic and Snappy Snaps and the vouchers can be used to purchase anything in their shops.
Other local shops, restaurants, leisure facilities and charities have also signed up and more High Street shops are expected to join the scheme in future.
The scheme, being run in partnership with Veolia Environmental Services, will begin today (Mon) for garden waste provided by 2,800 households before being rolled out to around 6,000 households and all recyclable materials.
Liam Maxwell, Lead Cabinet Member for Sustainability at the Tory-controlled council, said residents had already had their bins fitted with microchips.
“We believe in rewarding our residents for their recycling efforts, not imposing penalties. We are excited about launching a pilot scheme that has the potential to boost recycling, reduce waste sent to landfill and also help support the economy by supporting local businesses. It’s win-win-win for everyone.”
Matthew Tucker, president of RecycleBank, that has boosted recycling rates by up to 200 per cent in the United States and is running the scheme, predicted UK councils will take up the method even quicker than in America.
In the US the scheme went from a few thousand households to one million across 19 states in a few years. He said RecycleBank is already in talks with around 12 councils including London boroughs.
“Residents take an active role in helping the environment and are rewarded with goods and services or can make donations to charities through the points they gain,” he said. “This scheme offers real benefits for all parties involved; never more important than in today’s tough times.”
But Nick Herbert, the Tory environment spokesman, compared the scheme to recent attempts by the Government to introduce a “pay as you throw” bin tax.
“Labour’s bin tax bullying is totally counter-productive,” he said. “We ought to be making recycling easier and more rewarding for families who are facing a tough economic outlook, not punishing people.”
