Recycling pilot uses digital payments to fight against single-use plastic

Mastercard is working with sustainable payments specialist Helpful and the Scottish Grocers’ Federation to trial a scheme that will pay 20p to Scots via digital wallets when they return single-use plastic bottles.

The trial will see participants rewarded with 20p for every container they return through the ‘Recycle Glasgow’ app. Users scan a barcode on the bottle, put it in a smart recycling bin or hand it over to the shopkeeper, and get the refund directly into their Helpful digital wallet.

The partners claim that their scheme is set to reduce Scotland’s CO2e emissions by 160,000 tonnes a year, the equivalent of taking 83,000 cars off the road.

For every bottle recycled a tree will be planted via Mastercard’s Priceless Planet Coalition, which seeks to restore 100 million trees by 2025.

Evan Michaels, founder, Helpful, says: “Aimed at everyone, but especially the young and engaged 18-34 year-olds, we will be working within the local communities and local schools to help educate and inspire action, as well as enabling recycling funds to go to schools and charitable causes.”