The Scottish Government aims to create a ‘zero waste’ society, and the supermarket chain Tesco are set to helping them to achieve this aim.
Scottish Tesco stores are set to pioneer a ‘reverse vending machine’ whereby customers are rewarded for returning packing and recyclable products in in-store machines. The machine is capable of identifying and sorting items, and it is believed many vehicle journeys will be saved as the machine compresses and shreds the waste on site.
At the recent waste conference in Glasgow, Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said:
“I am delighted to see that Tesco shares my vision of a ‘Zero Waste Scotland’ and is seeking to introduce reverse vending in Scotland. Reverse vending has terrific potential to improve our rates of recycling and evidence from Scandinavia and Canada shows that it has reaped real rewards.”
The Scottish Government remains committed to cutting growth of municipal waste by 2010.
I’m always dubious about mechanical reclamation. It’s not overly efficient, however, assuming the pre-sorting process is efficient, it should produce a good clean product. The downside with this system is if and when packaging contains both card and plastics, bonded together. It could result in a shredded mis-match of recycleable, that can’t be reclaimed due to impurities-
i think its great idia !
thank you
its good to see that the big supermarkets are getting behind the zero waste policy. Supermarkets do produce alot of waste and should take on board they need to do something about it. I also here marks and spencer has a good green policy aiming to be carbon neutral. I’m all for no waste more recycling