Halton Borough Council to extend bin chip recycling incentive project

Jun 10 2010 Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

A PIONEERING recycling incentive scheme involving microchips in bins is to be rolled out across the borough.

The RecycleBank scheme involves monitoring the weight of individual blue bins, with radio frequency ID (RFID) tags being used to identify the households they belong to.

The bin wagon reads the uniquely coded chip, weighs the blue bin and works out the amont of points to be awarded.

The expansion plan follows a six month pilot scheme across 10,000 households which resulted in higher recycling rates.

A further 37,000 homes will soon have the option of signing up to the scheme, which awards points based on how much waste is recycled. They can be exchanged for goods and services.

Halton Council is the first authority in the north of England – and the second council in the country – to implement the scheme.

The scheme is voluntary and residents can opt out.

Residents who want to take part have to activate the system themselves.

Cllr Stef Nelson (recycling) said: “Halton Borough Council has always believed in encouraging people to recycle and I am delighted that we are able to roll this scheme out across Halton.

‘The scheme is a win-win for all concerned. Not only can Halton’s residents earn rewards for recycling, the scheme provides the opportunity to promote and encourage local economic development which will benefit local businesses and it can help achieve higher levels of recycling in Halton, to divert more waste from landfill and save money!”