Tidy Our Town: ‘Gamechanger’ machine which incentivises recycling to be placed at University of Northampton

The Northants Litter Wombles have worked hard to see the installation of the county’s first ‘Deposit Return Scheme’ machine, in collaboration with installer Trovr and the University.

Volunteer Womble and committee member Mark Watson previously told the Chronicle & Echo: “A Deposit Return Scheme is where plastic bottles and cans, and sometimes glass, can be taken to a machine and you are given rewards or monetary values in return.

“Deposit Return Schemes are running all over the world. If you find a bottle or can on the floor, you can take it back for a financial reward.

“It works successfully in other parts of the world, like Europe and Australia, and everywhere it is used there has been a huge decline in litter.”

Mark explained that bottles and cans are a “real issue” for litter pickers across the entire county, and he believes it is because people do not see them as having value – but that is set to change.

“The UK has been very slow in implementing a Deposit Return Scheme,” said Mark. “It was meant to come into effect in October 2025 and was put back by the previous government to October 2027.”

This collaboration came about when a West Suffolk councillor reached out to the Northants Litter Wombles to put them in touch with Trovr – who believed the University was the ideal location for a machine of this kind.

“The University of Northampton was really keen,” said Mark. “We know they have a big cohort of young people on site, there are a number of food and drink outlets, and they can keep tabs on data collection.”

Despite the fact the machine will be placed in one of the University cafes, it will be accessible to all once it has been installed. This has been pushed back slightly due to the national rollout of a Deposit Return Scheme in Austria.

“We’ve got a really thriving and reactive litter picking community in Northants,” said Mark. “It’s appropriate to have it here.

“We’ve got to keep the pressure up on the government for the national rollout. We can’t afford to have any more delays as this is really important. This could reduce our litter by half.

“Support the Deposit Return Scheme and tell your MPs by writing to them. This is the biggest thing we can do in the next three years to reduce litter.”

If you would like to get involved in the Tidy Our Town campaign, established in collaboration with the Northants Litter Wombles, email [email protected].

To get involved and find out more, you can join the Northants Litter Wombles Facebook page here.