A TRANENT supermarket’s bid for a ‘reverse vending machine’ has been given the green light.
Aldi has been given the go-ahead by East Lothian Council to put the machine – which rewards people for recycling – outside its store in its car park.
A statement included within the planning application said: “A reverse vending machine (RVM) is a device that accepts empty beverage containers and returns a reward (either money or some other payment method) to the user. The user inserts the empty beverage container into the RVM, where it is scanned, identified and determined to be an eligible container.”
“When consumers go into a shop or hospitality business to buy a drink, they will pay a small deposit (20p) on top of the retail price. Consumers get their deposit back when they return their empty plastic bottle, glass bottle or steel/aluminium can.
“There are two ways to return their empty containers. These can be returned manually over the counter or by using an automated reverse vending machine that scans the container barcode when they are deposited.”
The RVM will be located on parent and child spaces, which will be moved across the road in the car park.
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