RecycleBank

Rewarding You for Recycling

One of the most exciting recent developments in recycling is about to be tested in the Royal Borough - a scheme that will reward local residents for the amount you recycle.

Thanks to your efforts the borough's recycling rate is already more than 37% - and we believe the new rewards scheme will mean we can keep on getting better and better.

Working in partnership with Veolia Environmental Services and RecycleBank, the Council is the first in the UK to trial Rewards for recycling - an initiative that has already been successful in the United States where it has helped to boost recycling rates significantly.

It works by weighing the amount of recycling materials produced by participating households, using special equipment in the collection lorries. Households are set up with a unique RecycleBank Rewards Account, which means the more you recycle the more Points you accumulate to use in local and national outlets or for donations to charity.

A Royal Borough pilot scheme started on 1 June when the system and equipment was tested on the green waste service. The second phase of testing began on 7 September and will include general recycling materials, such as paper, plastic bottles and cans, all of which will go into one bin and be 'co-mingled'. Great news - no more separating recycling into different boxes.

Although the trials are with relatively small numbers of residents, they will give us the opportunity to test the system thoroughly and, if it is successful, we will consider expanding the scheme across the borough.

The council has written to all residents eligible to join the pilot schemes inviting them to take part. Those who decide to join will be given a step-by-step guide to activating their RecycleBank account and tracking their points either on-line or by telephone.

The Council has underlined that the reward scheme is NOT a forerunner to any kind of penalty system. The Royal Borough believes in rewarding residents for recycling, not imposing penalties, and will not introduce 'pay-as-you-throw' or any similar scheme.

More information is available on the RecycleBank (right click on the mouse and open in a new window) website or call the Council's Customer Service Centre on 01628 683801.

The trials that are currently being carried out will continue until the end of March , at which time a decision will be made by the Council as to whether to offer this scheme to other areas. If this decision is made, following a thorough evaluation of the pilot schemes, it is likely to take around 9 months to reach all 60,000 properties. More information will be released nearer the time.

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