Bringing a new approach to recycling to Scotland

Maximising recycling performance in Scotland

The two companies introduced the ‘carrot-not-the-stick’ approach to household recycling at the Scottish Waste & Resources Conference in Glasgow on 6 October. Paul Levett, Deputy CEO of UK recycling and waste management leader, Veolia Environmental Services (UK) and Sue Igoe, Managing Director of RecycleBank® will be proposed the programme to Scotland for the first time in a bid to help local authorities maximise recycling performance and so make landfill tax cost savings.

RecycleBank® schemes in the Boroughs of Halton and Windsor & Maidenhead have already seen the weight of recyclates collected increase by 60% and 35% respectively with householders having the opportunity to earn points worth, on average, £135 p.a. Residents can spend their points at hundreds of ‘reward partners’ which include local and national retailers, restaurants and leisure facilities, or donated to local schools. Over 80% of points have been spent in local businesses, supporting the local economy and both boroughs have proceeded with a full roll-out of the scheme.

Veolia and Recyclebank® will be in touch with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) to introduce the scheme which is compatible with a range of different collection systems, prior to targeting urban local authorities in Scotland.

Paul Levett commented: “We already have plans to strengthen our presence in Scotland from our Grangemouth HQ and are fully aware of the Scottish Government’s policy for Zero Waste Scotland and its linkage with the waste and climate change agendas.

“This conference represents an excellent opportunity to promote a new approach to recycling which offers the opportunity for major increases in landfill diversion and is clearly preferable to punitive penalty regimes.”

Sue Igoe added: “Increased recycling and waste diversion is the best way to combat the problem of limited landfill space, and a rewards scheme to bolster recycling is the ideal solution to reduce landfill taxes, help councils meet landfill reduction targets and stimulate the local economy.

“We believe this programme is ideally suited to households in Scotland – particularly in urban areas. The RecycleBank® programme fits with existing co-mingled and kerbside sort collections, or can be introduced as part of a new service.

“This is a positive step forward for local authorities, residents and businesses. Getting people to recycle a greater amount of waste more often is the first step in total waste minimisation.”

For further information on the RecycleBank® programme please visit www.recyclebank.com