Council pilot Nectar points recycling incentive

• Aug. 22 by Karl Stevens (7)

Homes in Erdington and Bourneville who receive a Friday blue-box paper recycling collection, are to receive Nectar points as a reward from September 2.

The scheme is being piloted in in these areas with the hopes to roll it out to over 400,000 households across the city.

In the first scheme of its kind in Britain, up to 4,500 homes are to benefit from the reward which according to a council spokesman will earn households 25 point per collection. Residents will be given a barcode sticker to attach to their recycling bins which will be scanned by recycling collectors upon each visit.

The innovative scheme is being demonsrated today on the streets of Cotteridge by Councillor Tim Huxtable and Nectar Client Development Director Will Shuckburgh, with points also being earned at leisure centre visits across the city.

Councillor Timothy Huxtable, Cabinet Member for Transport, Environment and Regeneration at Birmingham City Council, said:

“Increasing public participation in recycling is a key objective for both the City Council and future of the city as a whole, so we are delighted to have teamed up with such a prominent partner as Nectar to promote this initiative.

This is a real win-win project for all, as the more that people recycle, not only will they be helping to save the environment, but the more opportunity they will get to reward themselves.”

Will Shuckburgh from Nectar said:

“Using Nectar points to reward residents for environmentally-friendly behaviour is a great initiative and we’re excited to be working with Birmingham City Council to implement this scheme, ultimately hoping to make the city a greener place. Many people may already be recycling so by signing-up to the new initiative they will be rewarded with points to spend on a range of treats for relatively little extra effort.”

The scheme will be funded through the West Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership and not directly from council tax funds. Nectar points can be redeemed at stores such as Sainsbury’s, Argos and Homebase

Read a statement by Birmingham Friends of the Earth on the scheme.