Incentive schemes 'encourage recycling'

More people are being encouraged to recycle because of a series of incentive schemes, offering individual prizes, such as cash, cars and holidays, the government has announced.

Over 50 pilot schemes, funded by a £3.5 million grant from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), were run across the country to test a variety of approaches to encourage people to reduce, re-use and recycle their waste.

Individual prizes were offered in some schemes, while communities were rewarded with funding for local initiatives and improvements.

Defra reported that in over half the areas, the tonnage of recyclables collected increased, while in others, the contamination rates were reduced considerably.

Other incentive pilots targeted waste reduction by encouraging reuse.

Commenting on the results of the pilots, Environment Minister Ben Bradshaw said: "We've trebled recycling since 1997 - but we're going to have to do much better still if we are to tackle climate change and avoid huge fines for breaking European landfill limits.

"We are all going to have to change our behaviour radically and these incentive schemes show it's possible."

(KMcA)