People can earn cash by returning plastic bottles and cans at supermarkets

People will be able to earn cash from recycling plastic bottles and drinks cans at ‘reverse’ vending machines at shops and supermarkets under new plans.

The government has proposed that a deposit return scheme be introduced in England which would enable residents to take qualifying bottles and cans to machines in shops and receive a payment per item.

The concept of earning money for recycling your own plastic bottles and cans is a familiar one in Europe, with almost all German supermarkets containing specialised machines for the task.

In the UK it would apply only to plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate – known as ‘PET’, as well as steel and aluminium cans of sizes between 50ml and three litres. Glass bottles are not included in England, although they are in Scotland and Wales.

While a rate for the deposit scheme is yet to be confirmed, officers at Tameside council say it is ‘likely’ to be 20p per container. A start date for the scheme has been set as October 1, 2025.

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Containers that can be accepted would have an identification mark, such as a bar code or QR code, that can be read at the return point.

Retailers selling ‘in scope’ bottles and cans would be obliged to host a return vending machine, but would receive a handling fee to compensate them for costs incurred in hosting a return point. However smaller retailers could apply for an exemption to get out of hosting one.

If products that could be returned at the machines end up in the normal recycling stream, local authorities could potentially be able to separate out the containers and redeem the deposit on them – however bosses warn this would be