The Merseyside borough was the second local authority in England to provide rewards for recycling when it introduced the ‘Recyclebank’ scheme on a trial basis to 10,000 of its 42,000 households in 2009 – at an initial cost of £63,700 for six months.
The scheme was then rolled out across the borough in August 2010, at a cost of around £144,000 per year, according to initial cost estimates published by the council.
Recyclebank was taken over by Greenredeem, which took over the running of the scheme in 2013. The organisation has said it is ‘disappointed’ that the scheme has come to an end, but said it has demonstrated the potential for reward initiatives as a catalyst to higher recycling.
The system sees residents being given ‘reward points’ based on the weight of dry recyclables placed at the kerbside and collected by Halton’s collection contractor Veolia. 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.
Points
Residents have been assured that they will not lose any accrued points that they have earned as a result of the end of the scheme, but from November 1 they will no longer be able to earn points for recycling or be able to spend their points on local rewards.
They will still be able to recoup the points through Greenredeem’s national partners, which include brands such as Persil, Comfort and Magnum.
All residents who are signed up to Greenredeem have received an e-mail providing more information about the changes to the scheme following the council’s withdrawal.
Although it is unlikely to be entirely attributable to the results of the rewards scheme, Halton has seen its recycling rate increase from 28% in 2008/09 to around 39% in 2013/14.
Services
Councillor Stef Nelson, executive board member for environmental services, said: “It is unfortunate that we will be ceasing this service to our residents, but the continued and significant cuts to our funding by central government means that we need to make really hard choices about the services we provide.
“The scale of the cuts means that we are having to take increasingly difficult decisions to help achieve the level of financial savings required to balance our budgets.
“We really appreciate the co-operation and support of our residents in helping to drive up recycling performance and reduce the amount of waste requiring costly disposal. Spending less money for waste disposal means that we will have more money to spend on important front line services that may have been at risk of ceasing or reducing as a result of the ongoing cuts to our funding. We are currently looking at alternative ways of rewarding our residents for their recycling efforts.”
Commenting on the ending of the scheme, Rob Crumbie, Greenredeem, said: “Having worked in partnership with Halton Borough Council to increase their recycling rate three times faster than the national average in the last five years, we’re naturally disappointed that the partnership has now ended.
“However, Greenredeem believe that the scheme in Halton has proved that a rewards based communications platform can improve recycling rates, and we are looking forward to working with many other local authorities in the future.”
Do recycling rewards schemes offer value for money in boosting recycling rates? Give us your view in the comments section below.
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