Recycle reward in store as Aldi makes new bid

Aldi Stores this week submitted a planning bid to Scottish Borders Council to erect a 24-hour reverse vending machine unit for recycling purposes outside its outlet in the town’s Commercial Road.

The unit would be used for the collection of plastic and glass bottles and steel and aluminium cans.

A spokesperson for the applicant’s agent, Edinburgh-based Avison Young, said: “These units are vital in order for Aldi to meet their legal duty to implement a deposit return scheme (DRS) at all their stores in Scotland to comply with incoming legislation.”

A reverse vending machine 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 machine where it is scanned, identified and determined to be an eligible container.

If approved the new unit would be built at an area of Commercial Road currently used for car parking.

The Avison Young spokesperson added: “Due to the size of the units and the typically highly efficient layout of the Aldi store, it is not possible to locate the machines within the building.

“Therefore it is necessary to accommodate these units within the existing car park, which may result in a smaller number of either car parking spaces or pavement areas.”

The Scottish government has announced the introduction of a deposit return scheme for July 2022, meaning that retailers have a legal requirement to accept returns of empty drink receptacles for recycling by that date.