Sainsbury’s has become the latest supermarket to launch a reverse vending recycling trial.
Customers at its Lincoln superstore can return plastic bottles and drinks cans in exchange for 5p coupons towards their next shop. Sainsbury’s plans to extend the scheme to four more outlets in the next few weeks, ahead of possible wider roll-out.
The reverse vending machines only accept bottles and cans from brands and own label ranges that are sold in Sainsbury’s stores.
News just in: we’re trialling something new at our Lincoln Superstore. One of many steps we’re taking to remove, reuse, replace and recycle plastic ♻ pic.twitter.com/zvgYCkcXYH
— Sainsbury’s (@sainsburys) June 7, 2019
The move comes amid an increasing drive by the grocery industry to reduce single use plastic waste, whilst the government is also looking into introducing a national bottle deposit return scheme. Iceland, Morrisons, Tesco and the Co-op have all been testing reverse vending machine in their stores. Iceland recently claimed that it had seen “significant” consumer participation in its in-store reverse vending trial.
Last week, Sainsbury’s announced a series of moves to reduce the amount of plastic it uses across its stores. This includes the retailer removing the plastic bags used for loose fruit, vegetables and bakery items.
