Veolia, RecycleBank Seeking to Implement Collection Program in Scotland

Veolia Environmental Services and RecycleBank are in discussions with Scottish officials over the possibility of implementing RecycleBank’s incentive program in the country as a way to boost recycling levels.

The two companies made the proposal at the Scottish Waste & Resources Conference on Oct. 6. The two parties proposed the program to help the Scottish Government reach its targeted recycling rate of 50 percent by 2013 and 70 percent by 2025.

RecycleBank already operates incentive programs in a number of U.K. cities, including the boroughs of Halton and Windsor & Maidenhead. According to Veolia, both of these regions have seen the recyclables collected increase by 60 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

The two companies will be discussing the program with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) to introduce the scheme that is compatible with a range of different collection systems, prior to targeting urban local authorities in Scotland.

Sue Igoe, a spokeswoman for RecycleBank, says, “Increased recycling and waste diversion is the best way to combat the problem of limited landfill space, and a rewards scheme to bolster recycling is the ideal solution to reduce landfill taxes, help councils meet landfill reduction targets and stimulate the local economy.

“We believe this program is ideally suited to households in Scotland – particularly in urban areas. The RecycleBank program fits with existing commingled and curbside sort collections, or can be introduced as part of a new service.