Students at New College Lanarkshire are now being financially rewarded for recycling cans and plastic bottles as part of a new trial designed to test how incentives influence sustainable habits.
How the Trial Works and Why It Matters
The month-long trial, which runs across the college’s Motherwell, Coatbridge and Cumbernauld campuses, offers students a 20p reward for every eligible drinks container they deposit into one of the on-site Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs). The incentive is redeemable at campus canteens and aims to encourage better recycling habits among young people.
The scheme is being run in partnership with Coca‑Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) and environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful, which has previously collaborated on a similar project at the University of Strathclyde. There, researchers found that around half of students said a financial incentive would make them more likely to recycle.
The New College Lanarkshire initiative is designed to build on those findings and go a step further. In addition to tracking RVM usage, it also involves selected three-person student households taking part in a two-week live trial of the wider Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). This includes documenting their daily experience with returning containers, offering a more realistic picture of what works and what doesn’t.
Ronnie Gilmour, Deputy Principal at New College Lanarkshire, said: “We know that living in a clean and sustainable environment is very important to our students. I’m sure the data gathered through the scheme will make an important contribution to understanding behaviour around recycling.”
Jo Padwick, Senior Sustainability Manager at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Great Britain (CCEP GB), added: “Giving students the chance to live with a Deposit Return Scheme – something that will soon be a part of everyday life – allows us to see first-hand how people interact with RVMs in reality.”
Learning from Behavioural Insights
The financial incentive is not just a token gesture but is part of a growing body of work examining what genuinely motivates people to recycle. For example, while many support environmental goals in principle, real-world participation often depends on convenience and personal benefit.
As Barry Fisher, Chief Executive at Keep Scotland Beautiful, explained: “We’ve learned from previous campaigns what encourages positive recycling behaviours by students and hope that this 20p incentive will motivate more people to recycle plastic bottles and cans.”
The trial also focuses on the design of messaging, campaign materials and ease of use. The students are being asked to feed back on these elements to help fine-tune future rollout strategies, particularly as Scotland prepares for the introduction of a national Deposit Return Scheme.
Other Reverse Vending Trials Gaining Ground
It should be noted here that the Lanarkshire scheme is not the only one of it’s kind. Across the UK, similar projects are being tested as local authorities, colleges and retailers look to increase recycling rates and reduce litter.
For example, earlier this year, Middlesbrough Council became the first local authority in England to pilot a council-backed RVM in a community setting. Residents could deposit containers in exchange for a 10p discount at a local eco shop, helping both to clean up streets and support sustainable consumer behaviour.
Also, in West Suffolk, the college campus installed one of the UK’s earliest RVMs, allowing students to return bottles for small incentives while learning about closed-loop recycling. Meanwhile, major UK supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Iceland have tested RVMs in-store to gauge customer reactions ahead of any mandatory DRS rollout.
Scotland had originally planned to launch a national DRS in 2024, though this has now been postponed until at least 2027 due to technical and legislative hurdles. That said, trials like those in Lanarkshire seem to be laying the groundwork by identifying what motivates users, where friction points occur, and how to integrate RVMs into everyday behaviour.
Broader Sustainability Gains from DRS Schemes
Deposit Return Schemes are actually widely used across Europe, with some notable success. For example, in Norway, Germany and Lithuania, return rates for cans and plastic bottles regularly exceed 90 per cent. The key appears to be combining convenience with a financial incentive (however small).
Also, Ireland recently introduced its first nationwide DRS (in February 2024). By August 2024, monthly return volumes had surged from just 2 million to over 111 million containers. That growth not only reduced waste but also generated funds for local charities and encouraged public buy-in.
According to the European Commission, DRS schemes can reduce litter by up to a massive 80 per cent and dramatically increase material recovery rates, helping to conserve resources and reduce the carbon footprint of packaging.
UK Government’s Own Scheme In 2027
The UK Government has now committed to introducing its own scheme, with England, Wales and Northern Ireland targeting a 2027 start. However, key decisions on scope, technology and implementation remain under review. Scotland’s experience with voluntary trials could therefore play a valuable role in shaping UK-wide plans.
Why These Schemes Matter for UK Businesses
Businesses, particularly those in food, drink, and retail, are paying close attention. The shift to DRS will have operational and cost implications for manufacturers, distributors and retailers alike. However, those that embrace the change may also find new opportunities in brand perception, customer loyalty and sustainable supply chain models.
There’s also a longer-term strategic point. As ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) pressures mount, and consumers grow more selective, companies that can point to credible sustainability actions are better placed to meet stakeholder expectations and future regulation.
RVMs and DRS schemes, while not a silver bullet, offer one practical and measurable way to demonstrate environmental leadership, particularly if the data gathered can show improved recycling rates, reduced litter, and more engaged communities.
Global Energy Demand for AI Raises Concern
While initiatives like these reward sustainable behaviour in the UK and Europe, it could be said that some international policy developments appear to be heading in the opposite direction.
For example, in the United States, President Donald Trump has made AI infrastructure a strategic priority for economic and geopolitical dominance. At a recent White House dinner with leading tech CEOs, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Google’s Sundar Pichai, Trump pledged to remove all regulatory obstacles to data centre expansion, particularly grid access and power supply.
“We’re making it very easy for you in terms of electric capacity and getting it for you, getting your permits,” Trump said, referencing a new executive order to fast-track approvals for data centres and associated energy infrastructure.
While this may sound business-friendly, the implications for sustainability are potentially very serious. For example, a 2025 Deloitte Insights report warned that the US data centre industry’s energy use could grow more than thirtyfold by 2035, largely driven by demand for generative AI. That level of consumption would put immense pressure on grid capacity and fossil fuel dependency, especially as Trump’s administration continues to back oil, gas and nuclear expansion while rolling back clean energy incentives.
The Washington Post recently reported that Trump’s “Drill, Baby, Drill 2.0” policy package includes a reversal of federal solar incentives and accelerated leasing of federal land for oil and gas extraction, sparking backlash from environmental groups.
The US is not the only country that could be accused of pushing in the opposite direction. For example, in June, South Korea’s government greenlit a major nuclear build-out to power AI-focused data campuses, with six new gigawatt reactors planned. Critics have argued that the move appears to be prioritising tech industry growth over clean energy transition.
Balancing Innovation and Environmental Responsibility
The contrast here appears to be quite striking. For example, whereas grassroots UK initiatives are exploring how small incentives and smart tech can encourage sustainable habits, some of the world’s largest economies are racing to power the next AI boom, regardless of the carbon consequences.
The lesson for UK businesses may be that while innovation is essential, sustainability can’t be treated as a separate issue and that every action either supports or undermines the wider climate goal.
What Does This Mean For Your Organisation?
What seems to stand out here is the growing gap between local action and global energy trends. In the UK and much of Europe, trials like those at New College Lanarkshire are building practical knowledge of how to drive behaviour change, reduce waste, and strengthen public support for more circular economic models. These are small-scale but targeted interventions that gather real data and encourage responsible habits from the ground up. For UK businesses, particularly those in sectors linked to packaging, consumer goods, or logistics, these schemes offer more than just a compliance challenge. They present a chance to align with shifting expectations, enhance transparency, and actively contribute to measurable sustainability outcomes.
At the same time, however, the direction being taken by governments such as the United States and South Korea raises some clear concerns. While investment in AI and advanced technology is often framed as a national priority, the energy demands required to support that growth (especially in the form of new datacentres) are enormous. The rollback of environmental safeguards in pursuit of short-term infrastructure expansion risks locking in decades of emissions at precisely the moment when global targets require the opposite. UK businesses operating internationally, or relying on cloud-based and AI services, will, therefore, need to consider how these developments affect their own carbon reporting, risk exposure, and supply chain decisions.
For UK companies aiming to future-proof their operations, the challenge is not just to adopt greener practices internally, but to understand and influence the broader systems they are part of. In that context, student-led trials of recycling machines may offer insights that go well beyond the campus gates.
