College students in Scotland will soon be rewarded with cash for helping the environment.
The pilot program, designed in partnership between Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) and the environmental nonprofit Keep Scotland Beautiful, will offer students at New College Lanarkshire a financial reward when they recycle aluminum cans and plastic bottles at reverse vending machines, The Manufacturer reported.
Under the temporary program, students across the Motherwell, Coatbridge and Cumbernauld campuses near Glasgow will receive a 20 pence (around 25 cents) reward for every eligible item they recycle. The credits will be redeemable at school canteens.
“Giving students the chance to live with a Deposit Return Scheme – something that will soon be a part of everyday life – will allow us to see first-hand how people interact with [reverse vending machines] in reality,” Senior Sustainability Manager at CCEP Great Britain Jo Padwick told The Manufacturer.
“Hearing directly from students over four weeks will give us honest, human insight into both the practical and behavioural barriers to adoption, as well as what really motivates them to take part,” Padwick said.
The Scottish pilot program mirrors successful recycling initiatives already in use globally, including in the United States.
According to a 2023 report by Ball Packaging and Eunomia, 9 of the top 10 states with the highest recycling rates, including Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont, offer a recycling refund.
Conversely, most of the 10 states with the lowest recycling rates, such as West Virginia, Louisiana and Tennessee, have no financial incentive programs.
Deposit return systems work by charging customers a small surcharge on eligible containers at the time, which is then refunded when the container is later returned to an eligible recycling facility or reverse vending machine, according to the reverse vending machine technology company Envipco.
If the U.S. were to create a national deposit return system, an estimated 447 billion units of beverage containers could be captured rather than lost to landfills, Resource Recycling Magazine reported.
Recycling these containers could generate nearly 33.77 million tons of material for reuse, which is valued at roughly $5.5 billion.
“Aligning U.S. programs with global best practices can ensure the country remains competitive in a world moving decisively toward a circular economy,” the magazine argued. “The path forward is clear: Modernizing [deposit return systems] in the U.S. is not just a choice but a necessity for a circular economy.”