Halton begins full roll-out of RecycleBank scheme

Halton borough council will today (August 23) become the second UK council to begin a full rollout of the rewards recycling scheme RecycleBank following a successful six month trial.

The scheme, which has also been fully rolled-out in the Royal borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, was trialled for 10,000 households in October 2009 before the council opted to extend it to 37,000 further households in April this year (see letsrecycle.com story). The rollout is set to be further extended to another 9,000 households over the course of 2011.

The system sees residents being given ‘reward points' based on the weight of dry recyclables placed at the kerbside. The ‘points' can then be redeemed as vouchers and discounts at participating shops, with residents able to acquire up to £135 in rewards each year.

Speaking today, councillor Rob Polhill, leader of Halton borough council, said: “The rollout of the RecycleBank scheme is part of our commitment to reward residents for recycling. During the trial we saw an increase in the number of residents recycling and an increase in the amount of recyclable materials collected.”

RecycleBank has been widely hailed by the government and the Conservative Party in particular, with communities secretary Eric Pickles keen to assert the coalition government's support for incentive-based recycling schemes (see letsrecycle.com story).

Scheme

The scheme operates with the council's existing 240 litre blue wheeled bins for commingled dry recyclables being fitted with a radio frequency identification device (RFID), which stores the address of the resident. The bin is then collected and weighed by the refuse collection vehicle, with the resident receiving ‘points' in correlation to the weight of the recyclables.

Data from the trial showed 60% of residents activated their RecycleBank accounts, with 79% stating that they were recycling more frequently and 96% said they would recommend the initiative to family or friends.

And, the council said, this was coupled with an 18% increase in participation for recycling and residents under the pilot produced 60% more paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, glass bottles and jars and metal cans than those not covered by the scheme.

Councillor Stef Nelson, executive board member for environmental sustainability, said: “The scheme brings benefits to the whole community in Halton. As well as providing rewards to residents, local businesses can benefit from increased custom which provides a welcome boost to the borough's economy.”

Sue Igoe, UK managing director of RecycleBank, said: “We are delighted to bring our rewards programme to every resident in the borough with an innovative council that is taking important action to reduce landfill tonnages.”

Costs

The Labour-led unitary authority spent £63,700 on rolling-out the six month trial of the scheme, according to council documents, with it costing less to adopt than in other areas due to the existing use of blue wheeled bins for kerbside recycling collections.

Ms Igoe said: “The existing single blue wheelie bin for recycling materials makes this a genuinely easy, convenient and rewarding experience for householders. This is vital to ensure that participation and recycling rates grow and remain high for the long term.”

And, according to a breakdown of costs acquired by letsrecycle.com, it is anticipated that the full rollout of the initiative could save Halton up to £110,000-a-year by 2013/14 (see letsrecycle.com story).