Householders to be rewarded with Nectar points for recycling

Birmingham City Council has teamed up with Nectar to pilot the initiative, which follows on from Nectar’s other green schemes with Sainsbury’s where customers can earn Nectar points when they reuse shopping bags.

Residents will be given bar-coded stickers to be placed on their blue paper recycling containers which will be scanned by council crews every time a collection is made.

Residents will earn 25 Nectar points for each collection and the points can be redeemed for rewards at outlets such as Sainsbury’s, Homebase and Argos. The six-month trial scheme has been funded by the West Midlands Improvement Efficiency Initiative.

Initially it will target 5,000 homes in the Bourneville and Erdington wards of Birmingham and if successful, will be rolled out to 400,000 households across the city.

Nectar’s managing director, Jan Pieter Lips, said: “This is an innovative way for local authorities to reward residents for behaviour that benefits their community. We’re excited about working with Birmingham City Council to reward its residents for greener and healthier behaviour.”

Birmingham City Council’s cabinet member for transport, environment & regeneration, Timothy Huxtable, added: “Increasing public participation in recycling is a key objective for both the 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.”

Maxine Perella