Motorway service stations reward drivers for keeping Britain tidy

MOTORWAY users are to be rewarded for recycling their rubbish under new trials at service stations.

Two service station in Kent – in Maidstone and Folkestone – are testing “recycling reward bins”, which encourage people to recycle plastic bottles and coffee cups in return for tokens that can be redeemed for snacks and drinks. Each item recycled is worth 5p in tokens that are dispensed from the bins upon disposal of items.

The initiative is being run by Highways England, the environmental organisation Hubbub, Costa and Roadchef, which is managing the recycling process and provides the discount, covering the cost of the vouchers.

Roadchef then recovers the money from the recycling firm. If successful, the bins could be rolled out at service stations across the country.

Recycling reward schemes are common in Europe and aim to improve the quality and frequency of recycling by consumers.

Some local authorities already run such schemes, with households collecting points for their recycling, which can then be spent on council facilities including libraries, sports facilities and extra bins. In 2016, official data revealed that recycling in Britain had dropped for the first time in 16 years, by 0.6 per cent.

It comes after Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, announced that a tax of up to 22p could be put on plastic bottles to stem the tide of waste flowing into the oceans.

His department is considering implementing a deposit return scheme similar to those that are already operating in Denmark, Sweden and Germany.

Meanwhile, new council pay-as-you-throw recycling schemes, where the weight of refuse is measured, could cost home owners £50 a year extra, waste experts warned.