The only local authority to respond to the Government’s invitation to incentivise residents to cut domestic waste has dismissed a private sector recycling reward scheme, gaining popularity among other councils.

The RecyleBank scheme rewards residents for cutting down on waste by weighing commingled recycling in bins through data chips, and has been rolled out by Windsor and Maidenhead RBC and Halton BC.

However, Bristol City Council has shunned the scheme, in part due to its incompatibility with an existing source-separated system, and has opted instead for funding from central government to cut waste – rather than rewards to increase recycling.
Bristol applied for direct funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to reward waste minimisation among its residents, but has to wait until after the general election to see if its plans will go ahead. Residents who volunteer for the trial would be issued with a chipped wheelie bin. Collection vehicles would be fitted with weighing equipment so that they could weigh the bins each week and record the weight.

However, prior to this proposal, RecyleBank’s scheme was considered.
A spokesman for Bristol City Council told Surveyor: ‘The intention of our scheme is to specifically reward waste minimisation, rather than reward increased recycling.

‘The RecycleBank scheme can only be implemented by weighing commingled recycling, in bins, and our current system is source separated, in boxes, so could not be supported by a RecyleBank scheme.’

The RecycleBank scheme has been successful in Halton, though, with residents recycling 60% more waste on average than non-participating households. Reward points can then be exchanged for goods and services at 130 local businesses.
A Halton BC spokesman said: ‘All councils are coming under huge pressure to reduce waste dumped into landfill, and we are clearly leading the way when it comes to providing an innovative scheme which rewards, rather than punishes, households.’
Sue Igoe, UK managing director of RecycleBank, added: ‘The success of phase one in Halton has demonstrated that incentives can motivate people to change their behaviour, rewarding themselves as well as the environment and the local economy along the way.