Iceland’s reverse vending trial collects over 300,000 bottles

Frozen supermarket chain, Iceland, has reported that its trial in-store deposit return system has collected over 300,000 plastic bottles.

Following the launch of the trial in four of its stores and head office in May 2018, the retailer says the success of the scheme marks a “significant milestone” in its plans to reduce plastic waste.

The scheme works on the reverse-vending principle, where customers can deposit any of Iceland’s own-brand plastic drinks bottles in return for a 10p voucher to spend in store.

The collected bottles are captured and sent to recycling facilities for reprocessing.

Iceland’s Managing Director, Richard Walker, said the trial, which was launched to show support for a nationwide deposit return scheme in the UK, has been popular with customers.

“We’ve gained hugely valuable insights into both consumer interest and the functionality of the schemes,” he explained. “It’s clear from the results that consumers want to tackle the problem of plastic head on and would be in support of a nationwide scheme."

Government Approval

Following Iceland’s announcement, Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, took to social media platform, Twitter, to praise the retailer’s efforts, stating that it is “fantastic” that the scheme is proving popular with customers.

Gove confirmed that DEFRA is to launch a consultation on a nationwide scheme in the coming weeks as part of the recently-launched waste and resources strategy.

Commenting, a DEFRA spokesperson said that the efforts by Iceland are “welcomed” in order to address the issue of reducing plastic waste.