Bracknell Forest Council yesterday (12 March) announced that it would begin rewarding residents for recycling after receiving £108,000 of funding from Defra’s reward and recognition fund.

The council stated that from 1 April, it would begin operating a points system, with 200 points being credited to each household every time they leave their recycling out for kerbside collection (provided it has been presented as required with the correct materials).

The points can then be redeemed against a variety of local-based activities, such as membership of the Bracknell Leisure Centre or a session at the Downshire Golf Complex. The points can also be used as money-off coupons for a variety of products.

According to Bracknell Forest Council’s website, points can be redeemed for a range of activites, including:

• a week-long DVD hire from a borough library (500 points);
• a 50 ball pitch and session at the Downshire Golf Complex driving range (800 points);
• under-16 swim at the Coral Reef leisure centre (1,200 points);
• an adult ticket to The Look Out science centre (1,500 points);
• a mid-week Summer session for nine holes of golf at Downshire Golf Complex (2,600 points); and
• a year-long adult membership to Bracknell Leisure Centre (5,200 points).

Other rewards, such as discounts on town centre car parking, are currently still being developed but will be introduced ‘in the future’.

In order to use the reward scheme, residents need an e+ card (a council-run smartcard that can be used as a library card, proof of age and a concessionary bus pass, among other functions) and must register online or by calling 01344 352000.

The scheme will initially run as a two-year pilot, after which the Executive will consider evidence to decide whether or not to continue with the scheme.

Janet Dowlman, Head of Environmental Services at Bracknell Forest Council, said: “When your recycling is collected, provided you have registered into the scheme, you will get points for recycling. We need to reduce the quantity of non-recyclable waste put in the blue bins.

“Dealing with the contamination is a needless waste of council tax. It also can mean that the waste has to go to landfill which defeats what we are all working to avoid. Doing things right gives you points to be redeemed against council-run or -provided services.”

Justifying the incentive scheme, Councillor Dorothy Hayes, Executive Member for the Environment, added: “Currently, three quarters of the residents in Bracknell Forest are recycling. However, we would like to increase this number, and hope that the incentive scheme might encourage more residents to recycle. We also want to reduce the high costs incurred at landfill.”

‘Unclear’ if incentive schemes ‘lead to fundamental changes in behaviour’

However, the effectiveness of incentive schemes such as this have been called into question, with environmental consultancy agency Pelican PR arguing in May 2011, that they ‘cannot replace the long-term communication with residents that underpins the success of many recycling schemes’.

The agency expressed concerns that whilst incentive schemes are ‘initially effective’, it is ‘unclear whether they lead to fundamental changes in behaviour’.

Bracknell council’s recycling incentive scheme comes just a month after the Scottish government launched a ‘Recycle and Reward’ pilot scheme, offering people money for recycling empty bottles and cans at various organisations.

The pilot was given a cautious welcome by the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), with the group’s Chief Executive Steve Lee, praising the initiative for attempting to further encourage recycling and divert materials from landfill, but warning against detracting “from the effective recycling infrastructure that councils have put in place, which has already engaged householders without the need for rewards and has delivered today's recycling rate of over 40 per cent."