Nestlé’s Buxton natural mineral water brand has joined the UK’s first digital deposit return scheme trial in Brecon, Wales.
The trial will encourage those living and working in the town to claim 10p rewards for recycling by scanning uniquely labelled drink containers, now including single Buxton bottles of all sizes.
Nestlé Waters UK head of communications Hayley Lloyd House said Buxton is “excited to work on this large-scale digital deposit return scheme”.
“It is a great opportunity for us to understand how digital solutions may be incorporated into a deposit return scheme and how a digital recycling solution can engage with consumers regarding the bottle-to-bottle circular economy journey to help increase recycling rates further,” she added.
Subscribe to Sustainability Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest sustainability news sent straight to your inbox each morning
Customers can scan bottles with their mobile phones and then recycling the packaging through their normal kerbside collection or using various return points around the town.
All Buxton water bottles are 100% recyclable, and last year the brand achieved its commitment to have the full range made with 100% recycled PET plastic (excluding caps and labels).
Nestlé Waters UK has now significantly reduced the amount of virgin PET plastic used to make its bottles, helping to close the recycling loop.
The trial runs for 12 weeks, from 13 July to 4 October 2023.