Tomra says convenience remains recycling priority

A survey of Europeans commissioned by global recycling equipment and technology provider Tomra indicates convenience remains a priority for people under the age of 30 when it comes to recycling beverage containers, signaling a preference common to people of all ages.

The under-30-year-olds, however, showed a greater willingness than their elders to use reverse vending machines (RVMs) and to receive loyalty program credits or a digital receipt when returning containers.

The survey was conducted in Europe but comes at a time when an alliance of organizations in the United States is attempting to spur elected leaders to action to adopt deposit-return systems (DRSs) or bottle bills for aluminum and plastic beverage containers.

“The findings have allowed us to explore the differences in the motivations and behaviors of young recyclers,” says Mette Mari Heyerdahl, head of marketing at Tomra Collection. That business unit of the Norway-based company makes and markets RVMs.

“As well as citing consideration for the environment as one of their key drivers to recycle, [young people] placed greater emphasis on digital receipts and using RVMs to make charitable contributions,” Heyerdahl adds.

In terms of what the under-30 demographic likes, Tomra has found 57 percent prefer using an RVM that accepts multiple containers in one pass, and 42 percent of them are willing to have the deposit refund transferred to a store loyalty card or app rather than receive cash. Similarly, 41 percent of younger respondents prefer receiving a digital receipt instead of paper.

Demonstrating a prorecycling attitude, more than two-thirds of the younger respondents (68 percent) indicated they prefer recycling systems cover more than just beverage containers, but also other consumer products.

Respondents showed what Tomra calls a significant appetite for DRS expansion that would allow other types of containers to be returned for recycling, although Tomra did not elaborate which other containers are in the broader category.

As seems to long have been acknowledged in prior surveys of people of all ages, convenience also was identified as a priority.

Young recyclers’ top-five satisfaction drivers related to RVMs, according to the survey, were no machine downtime (87 percent); easy-to-use RVMs (83 percent); the ability to return “all container types” to the same machine (81 percent); quick scanning of containers (78 percent); and a machine screen showing containers being counted, plus the refund amount (78 percent).

Among dislikes, young respondents expressed unhappiness with dirty or smelly machines and the inability to wash their hands after recycling.

In terms of choosing a recycling location, the most popular option among survey respondents of all ages was returning empties to the store where they do most of their grocery shopping (31 percent).

“We also wanted to explore ‘recycling loyalty,’” Heyerdahl says. “We found that 81 percent of young recyclers put their deposit refund towards grocery purchases at the store where they return their containers, lower than for respondents of all ages (87 percent).”

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Almost half (46 percent) of those in the under-30 age bracket return their drink containers one or two times per month, while 20 percent opt for once a week and 8 percent say they make several visits per week.

“This research [showed] us that reliability, convenience, speed and hygiene are key, and retailers should also be mindful of how highly the younger demographic rates digital experiences,” Heyerdahl says.