WRAP Project Looks to Boost Recycling at Supermarkets

A new research project aimed at evaluating the impact of front of store recycling facilities on local household waste recycling rates has been launched by the Waste & Resources Action Programme, a United Kingdom-based agency, with the help of £1.2 million of Government funding.

The project is included in Defra’s 5-year strategy ‘Delivering the Essentials of Life.’

WRAP has initiated an Open Competition for the research, which will involve partnerships between major retail supermarket chains, local authorities, technology vendors and waste management companies. The aim is to pilot new ways of encouraging householders to recycle their waste at supermarkets.

The research will assess a number of innovative and improved front of store recycling techniques, including the use of new technology, improved facilities, and financial incentives such as retailer loyalty card points and shopping discount vouchers. The results will help WRAP to establish how effective these different approaches could be in boosting local recycling rates and attracting new people to recycling, and to disseminate these results to a wide audience.

Welcoming the announcement, Mark Barthel, WRAP’s Special Adviser on retailer initiatives, said: “This project gives us the opportunity to test the proposition that, by providing attractive, easy to use facilities and offering financial incentives, we can engage with a segment of the population that would not normally recycle and increase local household recycling rates.

“The opportunity to test new approaches and technology, develop smarter bring sites and engage in innovative private and public partnerships makes this a very exciting project.”