UK shoppers are laughing all the way to the bank after earning over $37,000 by recycling plastic bottles. In a trial launched by UK supermarket chain Iceland, reverse vending machines in-store offered shoppers the opportunity to turn their disused bottles purchased at the shop into a voucher worth 10 cents.
Four vending machine were introduced inside four stores in June 2018. To date, 311,500 plastic bottles have been recycled.
Speaking with The Independent, Iceland’s managing director Richard Walker said: “Iceland has continually led the way in the fight against the scourge of plastic since making our announcement to eliminate plastic from our own-label product packaging. The launch of reverse vending machine trials in our stores is one sign of this. We’ve gained hugely valuable insights into both consumer interest and the functionality of the schemes, and it’s clear from the results that consumers want to tackle the problem of plastic head on and would be in support of a nationwide scheme.”
After becoming the first UK supermarket to roll-out the vending machines, other chains have followed suit including Tesco, Morrisons and the Co-op.This latest news from Iceland follows on from the chain’s controversially banned ad campaign that highlighted the issue of palm oil in December.