Sainsburys trials reverse vending machines which pay 5p per plastic bottle or can - MSE News

Does no-one remember Tesco's "green clubcard points" scheme from about 10-12 years ago? They had reverse vending machines in some of their car parks. One clubcard point (1p) for every two items recycled.

I recall reading about one couple paying for a first class holiday just by recycling.

Machines got scrapped due to abuse (and lack of profitability) in the end.

I've used similar machines overseas and they are nearly always tucked away with the intention that shops don't want to pay to take your rubbish away when the local council will take it as kerbside recycling for free (e.g. in Tallinn, Estonia I couldn't find a machine in any city centre supermarket, until I got directed to the far end of the top floor of a shopping centre car park by a local, the machines were in a little cupboard without any signposting with no lights inside the cupboard).

I think these are a great idea but I suspect widely open to abuse as you say. I was trying to think of ways I could get hold of more bottles and cans to recycle to give me a little bit of wiggle room on my £70 a month food budget.



That said, surely if it keeps more rubbish off the streets and into containers it has to be good long term if it's being honestly recycled. If every supermarket did it right across the country at its superstores it would have to be a good thing surely?



I often feel that the only incentive for recycling is people making money and until businesses find legitmate way to make cash out of recycling we're never going to be very good at it because at the end of the day everything comes down to profit margins.

Afternoon all

Where are Sainsburys trialing this?i cant see the information in that article?:)

We're lucky enough to have a reverse pop bottle vending machine at our local Tesco. There's always a queue to use it and it even gets full so I really think this is a great idea (plus there's the added bonus of money off your shop)

20 odd years ago as a child in the USA I would go out specially looking for bottles and cans that I could take to the supermarket for a credit note back.

Many countries run these schemes successfully and it is long over due here.

Before the carrier bag charge came into force there were many moans and negative scenarios imagined, very few of which have come true!