Bracknell Forest Council, in the south of England, manages the waste from a total population of 118 000 citizens through a contract with SITA UK. Given the low recycling rate, and of the increasing price of the landfill tax in the region (up to GBP 80 per tonne), the council decided to implement a pilot self-funded incentive scheme, for which they received funds from Defra (GBP 108 000). The implementation of the scheme followed these principles (BF, 2012):
- Objectives: The council decided to implement a system to save costs from the landfill tax. The system was implemented following advice from their waste contractor (note that in the UK waste cannot be charged through pay-as-you-throw schemes and a fixed fee is charged to citizens through the 'Council Tax'). It is considered that a potential saving of GBP 300 000 could be achieved only from avoidable landfill tax in three years. The key objectives were to increase the number of households participating in the kerbside recycling service from 75 % to 82 % in two years and to reduce the rate of recyclable materials in residual fractions from 13 % to at least 8 %.
- Scale of implementation: A first phase, as a pilot scheme, was successfully implemented and then extended to the whole town. Citizens can opt out and there is no mandate to be part of the reward system.
- Technology: Every citizen opting in is given an e+ card where points are accumulated. Blue bins are supplied at no cost for the final user. Points are given per pick-up of these bins, which are emptied if eligible by the personnel of the waste truck. No weight system is necessary and no fee reduction is offered in the management of the residual waste bin.
- Portfolio of rewards: No cashable value is given to the users of the system, but a maximum total value of GBP 26 in credits (points) per year. Rewards that can be redeemed with the points accumulated are seen as a marketing aspect of the scheme. Some of the rewards are as follows:
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- Council services rewards: The main rewards were offered as leisure rewards, e.g. as discounts or direct access to sports facilities, membership to local clubs, gyms, pools, etc.
- Green rewards: These are designed to help the municipality to achieve further landfill reductions, while making them freely available if enough credit is accumulated on the e+ card. For instance, composters and water butts are offered.
- Items: Although not used in the pilot scheme, some rewards include offers in local shops.
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The implementation was considered successful by the council of Bracknell Forest (BF, 2015), as at least 11 000 households joined the scheme (a quarter of the total number of households). The amount of residual waste was reduced by 1 000 tonnes, representing a saving of GBP 90 000 (from 1 April 2013 till July 2014), achieving the objectives of the pilot trial; therefore, the system is now implemented at full scale. Feedback from the citizens was positive and many indirect benefits were achieved, such as the possibility of targeted awareness campaigns via the e-mail of system users, insights gained into waste management practices, and the construction of a new waste monitoring system. This also developed the required awareness for further waste reduction opportunities.