Co-op trials ‘reverse vending machines’

The Co-op is launching a trial “deposit return scheme” at music festivals this summer as part of efforts to boost plastic recycling and cut marine pollution, the retailer said.

The pilot will see reverse vending machines at Coop pop-up stores at Download, Leicestershire, Latitude, Suffolk, and Reading and Leeds festivals to help people recycle their plastic bottles.

Plastic bottles sold at the Co-op pop-up stores will have a mandatory deposit added to the price, with festival goers able to return them to the reverse vending machine in exchange for a voucher to spend in the on-site stores.

The bottles collected at each festival will then go on to be recycled to create bottles for Co-op’s own brand bottled water. The company said it was the first retailer to launch such a scheme.