reverse vending to tackle plastics

Reverse vending machine acting as a bottle hub run by Infinitum which runs Norway’s deposit return scheme for plastic bottles and cans, and In Nurenburg in Germany supermarkets like Lidel and Aldi runs a bottle deposit hub and reverse vending machine which rewards the individual from brining in pre marked empty plastic bottle. China, Rowanda, Belgium, Wales are trying to find out what Norway and Germany is doing.

In UK the plastic problem has worsened since the beginning of the year after China stopped accepting plastic waste,. Norwegian method of encouraging recycling is believed to be one of the simplest and most cost effective  ways of reducing plastic waste.

The Norwegian government decided the best method would be to put a tax on every bottle that’s  not recycled – the leave the operating details of the scheme to the businesses.

The consumer pays a deposit on every bottle – the equivalent of 10p to 25p depending on size. They return it empty and post it into a machine which reads the barcode and produces a coupon for the deposit.