A reverse vending machine designed to accept plastic bottles and aluminium cans has been unveiled King’s Cross in central London by the UK’s leading recycling group Veolia and restaurant chain LEON.
Image: A reverse vending machine designed to accept plastic bottles and aluminum cans has been unveiled King’s Cross in central London. Photo: Courtesy of Veolia.
Backed by research which shows 81% of people would go out their way to deposit a bottle or can, the pilot will operate for six months to encourage people to recycle while on the go. Any bottle returned will receive a voucher worth 10% off the bill at the nearest LEON restaurant.
Britain fails to recycle 40% of plastic bottles because they aren’t placed in the right bins – that’s over 240,000 tonnes of bottles not reaching recycling centres every year. This pilot has been designed around consumers to target the disposable drinks containers most commonly discarded on the go – bottles under 750ml as well as aluminium cans in order to make it easy for people to recycle, reduce littering and enable more materials to be salvaged.
A UK-wide deposit return scheme is imperative if we want to round up the millions of stray plastic bottles and cans we as a country are not recycling. This pilot Veolia is conducting with LEON is the yardstick for on the go recycling. Located in a high footfall area and targeting the drinks containers most commonly misplaced – plastic bottles up to 750ml and aluminium cans – the machine offers an alternative to carrying recyclable items home or discarding as litter. Our research shows people are motivated to recycle, they care about the environment and the vast majority are poised to use a machine like ours when a reasonable walk away.
Veolia will collect and process the machine’s contents, ultimately transporting the bottles and cans to be recycled into new products. We hope as the pilot unfolds, it proves the importance of recycling on the go as well as the need for appropriate infrastructure to facilitate it.
Source: Company Press Release.