Scotland’s first in-store “reverse vending” machine at Musselburgh Iceland
Today we presented an award to the store staff at Musselburgh Iceland Store , following a hugely successful “pilot” installation.
We surpassed all set targets for the “pilot” and by working closely with store staff we changed the behaviour of customers who embraced the technology and quickly became avid recyclers.
On the 6th of June 2018 Musselburgh’s Iceland store became the first supermarket in Scotland to introduce a reverse vending machine (RVM) in a bid to end plastic pollution.
The frozen food giant is expected to share insights gained from its RVM trial with both the UK and Scottish governments as they continue to consult on deposit return.
Iceland Foods Group managing director Richard Walker said the trial represents further progress in the firm’s commitment to tackling plastic pollution.
“While the initial trial in London (with RVM Systems) has been a success Iceland Foods feel it is important to include insights from consumers elsewhere in the UK to get a better understanding of the challenges we might face,”
RVM Systems installed the first machine in the Fulham Iceland store on the 18th May 2018. This was an industry first , as it was the first deposit return installation in a UK Supermarket. On the 6th June 2018 we installed Scotland’s first Deposit Return scheme in the Musselburgh store.
The Musselburgh installation followed Iceland’s industry first in London the previous month , when we installed the UK’s first in-store supermarket reverse vending machine in the Iceland Foods Fulham store.
Today (12th September 2019) we removed our machine from the store and presented an award to the staff at the Musselburgh store to mark the end of our “pilot” at the store!
The Machine from Mussleburgh is being moved to a new location at an Iceleland Foods store in Scotland!
The installation at Iceland Musselburgh has received a 100% positive feedback from customers and store staff and has worked faultlessly for the duration of the “pilot”
RVM Systems team enjoyed working with the regular customers as well as staff at the store and became friends with many and will miss working with the wonderful store staff.
Here are some of the original press releases about the installation :
First in Scotland -Deposit Return Scheme
Musselburgh Supermarket installs reverse vending machine for plastic bottles
Scots Supermarket installs Reverse Vending Machine
Scotland’s First Reverse Vending Machine is at Musselburgh Iceland
Deposit Return debuts at Musselburgh Iceland
Iceland Foods Official Press release
Iceland Foods original Press Release
5 June 2018
Iceland Foods Group extends plastic reduction trial to three more UK stores Iceland today announces that it will be extending its market-leading trial for the use of reverse vending machines in England, Scotland and Wales as it continues its efforts to end the scourge of plastic pollution.
Following the launch of Iceland’s industry-first trial in Fulham last month, Iceland’s fast-growing chain of larger stores, The Food Warehouse, will see its first reverse vending machine installed in Wolverhampton today. Machines will also be installed at Iceland’s Musselburgh store, near Edinburgh, this week and in Mold in North Wales later in the month.
The six month trials are designed to help the company better understand consumer perceptions and appetite for plastics recycling technology across the UK.
Reverse vending machines reward individuals for recycling, by providing money or vouchers in return for empty containers. Iceland’s reverse vending machines will accept Iceland’s empty plastic beverage bottles and repay customers with a 10p voucher for each recycled bottle to be used in store.
Iceland’s in-store trials come ahead of the expected launch of a national Deposit Return Scheme, to which the UK, Welsh and Scottish Governments have all announced their commitment in principle. The trials will help Iceland to provide Government and industry with insights that might support the creation of a national scheme.
Iceland Foods Group Managing Director, Richard Walker commented: “Today’s announcement is a further step in our commitment to tackling the issue of plastic pollution globally, following our pledge to eliminate plastic packaging from all of our own label products by the end of 2023. “While our initial trial in London has been a success we feel it is important to include insights from consumers elsewhere in the UK to get a better understanding of the challenges we might face. “At least one third of plastics, much of this relating to packaging, is single use and then discarded – plastic bottles are a prime example of this.
Through our trials, we hope to understand how to make it easier for people to act in an environmentally conscious way while tackling the threat of the millions of plastic bottles that go unrecycled every day.”
It is estimated more than 12 million tonnes of plastic enters the world’s oceans every year, putting the lives of all forms of marine life at risk, from larger animals through to plankton, and there are fears that toxins originating from plastics are then re-entering the food chain via seafood. 2 Iceland announced in November last year that it would be supporting Greenpeace’s call to the Government to adopt the Deposit Return Scheme for bottles.
The company has a long history of campaigning and leading positive change for the environment, being the first UK supermarket to remove artificial flavours and colours from its own brand food and the first UK retailer to commit to removing palm oil from own label ranges,
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First Supermarket in the UK to install ‘All in’ reverse vending machine!
Mo Razzaq has installed a new reverse vending machine (RVM) which accepts glass, as-well as PET plastic bottles and drinks cans, in his Supermarket in Blantyre, Scotland.
Mo Razzaq installed our X3 RVM Systems to assess the impact on staff and the logistics “in-store” of accepting glass bottles.
The installation of the Model X3 RVM system, follows a trial of an RVM for drinks cans and plastic bottles which Mo carried out earlier in the year.
Mo Razzaq said “We first trialed a deposit return scheme in December 2018. Then, it only accepted drinks cans and bottles, that was all.
“This week, we introduced the new machine that accepted glass. The main reason behind it was to test how the glass would impact on us retailers.”
The Scottish government announced in May that a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for Scotland will include glass, plastic and aluminium drinks containers of all sizes and will apply to all retailers, while the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed in July it will consult on a proposed model for a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers in England and Wales in 2020, ahead of implementation by 2023.
Original story : https://www.conveniencestore.co.uk/news/scottish-retailer-fits-new-all-in-reverse-vending-machine/596723.article
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1 Million containers recycled with one machine!
On the 12th of July 2019 RVM Systems presented an award to Morrisons East Kilbride store. Richard Brawley from RVM Systems presented the presitgious award to Lewis Wilson from Morrisons to recognise that one Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) at the store recycled over 1 million used PET plastic bottles and used drink cans since 28th July 2018 !
Reverse vending machines reward individuals for recycling by providing money or vouchers in return for empty plastic bottles. The machines accept all plastic bottles that have a barcode and Morrisons own-brand bottles (multi-packs) that may not have one.
Customers, who are invited to provide feedback, can return a maximum of 20 bottles a day and receive 50 Morrisons More points in the form of a coupon for each one brought back, which can then be spent in store.
Press Releases of this installation :
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/east-kilbride-supermarket-trials-plastic-12939616
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-44805263
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Over 200,000 plastic bottles recycled at Iceland Foods Fulham Store
On the 10th of July 2019 RVM Systems presented an award to store manager Simon Felstead and his staff.
The Award celebrates that the store have recycled over 200,000 used PET plastic bottles at the store since the 18th May 2018.
Here is the original Press Release
Friday 18 May, 2018 – Iceland today became the first UK supermarket to install a reverse vending machine in store in support of the Government’s recently announced intention to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme in England.
The UK’s leading frozen food specialist continues to lead the way in reducing the impact of plastic packaging on the environment, and will be trialling the reverse vending machine in its Fulham, London, store initially for six months.
The trial aims to understand consumer perceptions and appetite for the technology and comes ahead of the launch of the Government’s Deposit Return Scheme, providing insights which will allow Iceland to maximise the positive environmental impact of the national initiative.
Reverse vending machines reward individuals for recycling, by providing money or vouchers in return for empty containers. Iceland’s reverse vending machine accepts any Iceland plastic beverage bottle and repays customers with a 10p voucher to be used in store for each bottle recycled. Today’s announcement is yet another demonstration of the supermarket’s dedication to tackling the issue of plastic pollution globally, following the pledge it made in January to eliminate plastic packaging from all of its own label products by the end of 2023. The move also comes following extensive consultation between Iceland and suppliers, to understand fully the possible implications to the supply chain of the reverse vending machine project. Iceland Managing Director, Richard Walker commented: “The vocal support Iceland has received since announcing our intention to eradicate plastic packaging has shown us that there is a huge public will to tackle the scourge of plastics.
“We’re the first supermarket to take decisive action to bring the reverse vending machine into stores, following the announcement of the Government’s support for a Deposit Return Scheme in England.
We’re doing it properly, through consultation with suppliers and by gaining understanding of how customers will act in response to the machine. “There are 12 million tonnes of plastic entering our oceans every year¹, so we feel a responsibility both to tackle the issue of plastic packaging, as we are doing with our own label products, and to give our customers the power to make a difference themselves.” Iceland’s action comes with strong support from the Government, with whom they have been in ongoing consultation since they first announced their 2023 plastics pledge in January .
Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, commented: “We can be in no doubt that plastic is damaging to our marine environment. Plastic pollution contributes to killing dolphins, choking turtles and degrading our most precious habitats. “I applaud Iceland for leading the way with their trial scheme. It is absolutely vital we act now to curb the millions of plastic bottles a day that go unrecycled. Support from businesses will be a vital part of ensuring we leave our environment in a better state than we found it.”
Here are the Press Releases :
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Morrisons Wood Green Store recycle over 250,000 used drink containers
On the 9th of July 2019 RVM Systems presented an award to Morrisons Wood Green store manager Daniel Haffenden to celebrate that the store has recycled over 250,000 plastic drink bottles and drink cans since the 2nd of November 2018.
RVM Systems installed “Reverse Vending Machines” at :
- Morrisons Wood Green Store – North London
- Morrisons Head Office – Bradford – West Yorkshire
- Morrisons Skipton – North Yorkshire
- Morrisons East – Kilbride – Lindsayfield – Scotland
Customers can return a maximum of 20 bottles a day and receive 50 Morrisons More points in the form of a coupon for each one brought back which can then be spent in store.
Alternatively, customers can choose to donate the cash alternative (5 pence) to the supermarket’s charity partner, CLIC Sargent.
The move comes as the Scottish Government intends to introduce a deposit return scheme for single use drinks containers. Zero Waste Scotland is currently leading the design of this change and consulting with various bodies before proposing a scheme.
Andrew Clappen, Morrisons group corporate services director said: “We want to play our part in making sure plastic bottles are collected and recycled. We’ll listen to customers as they use these machines.”
Scotland are implementing a Deposit Return Scheme in 2021
Original Press Releases :
This “pilot started on the 2nd of November 2018 and the two machines were removed from the store on the 29th of August 2019. The two machines worked faultlessly throughout and we enjoyed working with the store staff who were friendly, helpful and very enthusiastic throughout!
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Skipton Store received RVM “Reverse Vending” Award !
On the 17th of April 2019 Richard Brawley from RVM Systems presented an award to Suleman from Morrisons Skipton store!
Richard from RVM Systems presented the award to the store in recognition that the machine had worked without fault since it’s installation on the 2nd July 2018.
The machine received 100% positive feedback from store staff and customers!
Here are the original Press Releases:
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Sainsbury’s launches RVM trial, helping customers save up to £25 on their shop
RVM Systems were the first to introduce “Deposit Return ready” RVM’s in Sainsbury’s stores!
We installed the first RVM at the Sainsbury’s Lincoln store on Monday 3rd June 2019!
We installed the next RVM in the Sutton Park store in Hull on the 16th June 2019.
Up to 500 items can be deposited per customer, which means customers could save up to £25 off their shopping.
Judith Batchelar, Director Sainsbury’s Brand said, “We’re delighted to offer a new way to help our customers recycle while saving on their shop.”
The Reverse Vending Recycling trial is the latest in a line of steps Sainsbury’s is taking as part of its drive to cut plastic by removing, reusing, replacing and recycling.
Earlier this week, Sainsbury’s announced it was the first UK supermarket to remove plastic bags for loose fruit, vegetables and bakery items from all stores, offering paper and re-usable bags made from recycled materials and removing 489 tonnes’ worth plastic. The company also updated on its progress with removing and replacing plastic packaging, which totals over 10,000 tonnes this year
Here is the Press Release :
https://www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/news/latest-news/2019/reverse-vending-recycling-11062019
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