Sainsbury's extends bottle recycling scheme to Scotland

9 July 2019, 07:16

Sainsburys

Sainsbury's has rolled out a bottle recycling scheme that gives customers money off their shopping to Scotland.

The supermarket giant is trialling its reverse vending recycling initiative at its Braehead store in Glasgow.

Customers can deposit plastic bottles and aluminium drinks cans in a machine in exchange for a coupon worth 5p per item towards their shopping.

Stores in Lincoln and Hull began offering the service last month, with up to 500 recycling items permitted per visit.

Judith Batchelar, director of Sainsbury's Brand, said: "We're delighted to offer a new way to help our customers recycle while saving on their shop."

The supermarket recently announced it would remove plastic bags for loose fruit, vegetables and bakery items from all stores.

WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said: "Our seas and wildlife are filling up with plastic and other packaging waste, so it's good to see Sainsbury's encouraging people to recycle by rewarding customers using reverse vending machines.

"When Scotland eventually rolls out its deposit return scheme, to help recycle cans and bottles, these types of machines are going to become a lot more common in every supermarket and high street.

"However, recycling is only half the battle. We urgently need to see steps by manufacturers and retailers to reduce the total amounts of single-use plastic and packaging produced in the first place."