No real reward in recycling scheme on M20

Flaws in a service station recycling scheme pitched as a pioneering initiative to tackle road site litter have left some of its first users feeling deflated.

‘Reward machines’ offering 5p off items at Maidstone Services on the M20 were hoped to be a small-scale revival of bottle deposit scheme from years gone by.

Despite initial enthusiasm the attempt to tackle roadside littering has come under fire.

Any environmentally minded motorist would be tempted by the idea of cleaning out their car of two dozen bottles to get a reasonable discount off snacks but unfortunately they will be disappointed.

One man discovered that each voucher was only redeemable against one item which left him wondering what kind of incentive such a meagre sum actually was for shoppers buying goods with a service station premium. If our reporter’s experience is anything to go by, users will also likely find that when they get their voucher and take it to the till they may also have to convince the shop assistant that it can be used on any item. Despite being told by Hubbub, the charity behind the machines, that vouchers could be used on any item from WHSmith, our reporter was told he could only use discounts on drinks.

Hubbub attempted to clarify what the vouchers can be used for with service station staff but it seems this has not yet sunk in.

The most dishearteningly thing about the problems isn’t that users don’t get more money or that they aren’t finding it easy to redeem discounts, but if it fails a great opportunity to prevent littering will have been wasted.