List of Supermarkets to Pay Shoppers for Recycling Bottles

- A new deposit return scheme will reward shoppers for recycling plastic bottles and cans
- UK supermarkets like Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, and Sainsbury’s to host return points
- Scheme launches in England and Northern Ireland in October 2027
The UK government has unveiled plans to launch a deposit return scheme that will pay households for returning empty bottles and cans to supermarkets. Starting in October 2027, shoppers can take used single-use plastic and metal drinks containers (150ml to 3L) to collection points at major retailers, including Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, and Sainsbury’s, and receive a financial reward for their recycling efforts.
Already adopted in over 50 countries like Germany and Sweden, the initiative aims to reduce the 6.5 billion containers wasted in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland each year. This makes up part of the 30 billion drinks containers sold annually, including 12 billion plastic bottles and 13 billion cans.
Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh said: “This Government will clean up Britain and end the throwaway society. Turning trash into cash delivers clean growth, economic stability, and new green jobs while protecting our treasured wildlife.”
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: “It’s encouraging to see the UK adopt this proven scheme. Not only does it help tackle waste, but it rewards families for recycling, making it a win-win for both the environment and households.”

Sounds like a no brainer, must be vastly complicated if its going to take 2.5 years to implement.
Seems like we have the plastic & we have the retailers if there was a real will, it could come into play in weeks.......

What a great idea, always recycle but maybe if the recycling is monitored better, the items may be re used to their full potential and we get paid for it.

Other countries have had these recycling schemes for decades, it's embarrassing ours has been delayed so many times!

What's to stop you diverting you current recycling to the shops (with everyone driving to the shops, rather than getting collected effeciently by the truck) now?

About time too. Years behind other countries. They should also include tin cans and not offer points for the stores but cash payouts. It could then offer incentives to younger people.

If it works like the scheme in Germany it doesn't actually technically pay you to return bottles, you actually pay extra on top for the bottle which is then given back to you as a voucher when you take it to a recycling machine. The annoying thing I had when doing it when I was over there traveling, is that the vouchers are store specific. It wouldn't exactly be hard for Lidl (the supermarket i used the most) to allow the vouchers to be used countrywide.
Obviously I completely agree with recycling but it doesn't seem fair that the consumer is inconvenienced and in some cases left out of pocket, whilst the massive companies don't really have to do a lot to change the way they operate.

Most European countries do this already, but why on earth is it taking until 2027 to implement this?