Lidl launches bottle recycling pilot with cash rewards

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Francesca uses the new recycling point at Lidl in Barrhead, Scotland. Picture date: Tuesday February 6, 2024. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Euan Cherry/PA Wire

In a sustainable step, discount supermarket Lidl has become the first supermarket to pilot an own bottle return scheme across an entire city in the UK.

Consumers that utilise the scheme will be offered cash rewards for returning empty PET plastic and aluminium drinks containers via in-store reverse vending machines. The implementation of the scheme comes following the Scottish Government delaying the introduction of its Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) from its original go live date of 16 August 2023.

Consumers will receive a 5p rewards for each eligible item returned which can be redeemed in Lidl stores or be donated to the STV Children’s appeal, a charity that the discounter has worked in partnership with since 2011. Lidl has also shared that there will be no deposit placed on the product’s returned retail price.

Food solutions for a sustainable tomorrow

Being rolled out in Glasgow, Scotland, the pilot will be available in all 21 of the retailer’s Glasgow stores and is expected to recycle 10.5 tonnes of plastic and aluminium material per month.

“Incentivising shoppers to play a part in reducing plastic pollution, there is no cap on the number of items that can be returned, and the discounter will accept qualifying bottles and cans purchased from any retailer, as long as they are clean and uncrushed,” said the supermarket.

Commenting on the introduction of the pilot, Richard Bourns, Chief Commercial Officer at Lidl GB shared: “We’re on a mission to eliminate all unnecessary waste, and with over 95 percent of our own-brand packaging now recyclable, reusable, or refillable we’ve been making great progress.

“We know that Lidl shoppers share this passion, and we hope that utilising this infrastructure, which might otherwise have been left dormant, will help to make recycling their cans and bottles even more convenient for them. With our extra incentive thrown in, and no cap on the number of items that can be recycled, it’s a win-win for all,” continued Bourns.

The trail will take place between 8 February 2024 and 11 August 2024.