Maidenhead, UK - The first local authority in the UK to offer rewards for recycling to all its residents has launched the scheme with an invitation to more than 60,000 households to join the innovative RecycleBank service. The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead's new mixed waste service will be operated by contractor, Veolia Environmental Services, and will make recycling much easier for residents. All paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, glass bottles and jars and metal can now be placed in a single blue wheelie bin instead of different boxes.

Households will be awarded points for the amount they recycle, which they can then redeem for discounts and offers at more than 100 local and national retail outlets, restaurants and leisure facilities, or donated to local schools.

Windsor MP Adam Afriyie and representatives from the council, RecycleBank and Veolia Environmental Services, were joined by residents and reward partners (Marks & Spencer, Boyne Hill Primary School and Windsor Leisure Centre) to launch the new programme at Windsor Royal Shopping.

Cllr Liam Maxwell, the Royal Borough's lead member for policy and performance, commented: "The results of our trial with 6,000 local homes far exceeded our expectations. Our policy is to put residents first: we believe that incentives not penalties are the best way of encouraging every resident to recycle more, and more frequently. This reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill and brings economic benefits for our local businesses in these difficult times."

The mixed waste recycling service will be rolled out in phases across the entire borough from now until early in 2011 following the successful six month trial. Some 70 percent of residents on the trial scheme have activated their RecycleBank accounts and earned over six million points so far, increasing the total amount recycled in the participating households by 35 percent.

Sue Igoe, UK managing director of RecycleBank added: "It is fantastic to see so many local businesses in the Royal Borough getting involved. With 78 percent of reward partners being from the local area, and a great mix of national partners, there really is a reward for everyone. We want to see more residents redeeming their well-earned rewards, saving them money on everyday items."

Paul Levett, deputy chief executive for Veolia Environmental Services (UK) plc, said: "The single blue bin for recycling materials makes this a genuinely easy, convenient and rewarding experience for households. This is vital to ensure that participation and recycling rates grow and remain high for the long term."

There is no change to the normal weekly waste collection routine for Windsor and Maidenhead residents. All households in the mixed recycling service will just need to empty their recyclable materials into the blue bin and put it out for collection on the usual day. There is no charge to householders for the RecycleBank scheme. The scheme works by fitting electronic tags to the bins with the weight recorded by equipment in the collection vehicles. No personal data is held in the system and residents themselves choose if they want to take part by voluntarily activating their secure RecycleBank account, either online or by phone.

A survey of residents taking part in the pilot scheme showed that 78 percent felt rewards were a good reason to recycle and 93 percent said they would recommend RecycleBank to their friends and family.

Quelle: The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

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