Coca-Cola Great Britain has today (25 July) announced a partnership with Merlin Entertainments, to offer people 50% off entry to some of the UK’s most popular family attractions, in exchange for used plastic drink bottles.
This comes following research by Coca-Cola Great Britain, revealing 64% of Brits would recycle more on-the-go if they were rewarded instantly for their actions.
The summer trial will run between 25 July and 19 October 2018 and invites people to bring and recycle any 500ml plastic bottle via an on-site reverse vending machine. The machines will be installed at four of Merlin’s leading attractions and will instantly reward those who deposit their empty bottles with a voucher to receive 50% off entry at 30 participating Merlin attractions, including Alton Towers Resort, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures and LEGOLAND Windsor.
The trial is the first in the country to offer people a more valuable reward than the original purchasing price of the plastic drinks bottle they recycle, as the 50% off voucher equates to a saving of around £27 when buying a Merlin attraction day pass.
Leendert den Hollander, Coca-Cola European Partners –“We want to reward people for doing the right thing by recycling their bottles and hope to encourage some people who wouldn’t otherwise have done so. Through this exciting new trial with Merlin Entertainments we hope to remind people how valuable their empty plastic bottle is.”
Traditionally, a deposit return scheme (DRS) would see the public pay a deposit when they buy a drink in a single-use container – which they can then get back when the container is returned empty. There’s no suggestion, however, that this scheme would see customers paying a deposit on the product.
The partnership comes a year since Coca-Cola Great Britain and Coca-Cola European Partners launched its sustainable packaging strategy alongside a global goal to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one they sell, by 2030, to help ensure a world without waste.
Leendert den Hollander, Vice President & General Manager at Coca-Cola European Partners, said: “We want to reward people for doing the right thing by recycling their bottles and hope to encourage some people who wouldn’t otherwise have done so. Through this exciting new trial with Merlin Entertainments we hope to remind people how valuable their empty plastic bottle is.
“All of our bottles can be recycled and we want to get as many of them back as possible so they can be turned into new bottles and not end up as litter.
“This is just one of the actions that we’re taking. We buy more recycled plastic in the UK than any other company and we are in the process of doubling the recycled plastic in all our bottles from 25% to 50% by 2020. We’re also running television campaigns encouraging people to recycle, putting clear recycling messages across all of our packs and we’re supportive of new interventions, such as deposit return schemes, to see if they improve recycling rates.”
Sandra Hazel, Head of Force for Good at Merlin Entertainments, said: “This partnership with Coca-Cola Great Britain demonstrates our shared ambition to use our brands for good. We’re constantly looking for ways to raise awareness and help contribute to a better environment. As a responsible business and an advocate for marine conservation, we’re pleased to be joining forces with Coca-Cola Great Britain to encourage people to recycle more this summer, by rewarding them with family fun.”
The announcement follows Coca-Cola setting out what is sees as a “well-designed” deposit return scheme might look like in the UK.
