Have you got enough bottle to get the bus?

Published on Friday 12 December 2008 21:03

BUS passengers are set to get free or cut-price journeys if they recycle their used drink cans and plastic bottles.

Going back to the days when children used to get a few pence for taking empty lemonade bottles back to the shops, commuters travelling on a popular bus route in Aberdeenshire will be the first in the country to be offered travel discount vouchers for every item they recycle.

But to amass enough points to travel free on a return journey on the route they will have to recycle 700 items.

Scotland's first "reverse vending recycling" initiative for discounted bus travel was officially launched yesterday by Stagecoach and Aberdeenshire Council at the Ellon Park and Ride site facility, used by more than 120,000 commuters a year. It is hoped the move will reduce landfill and encourage more people to take greener forms of public transport.

If successful, the scheme could be rolled out to bus stations across Scotland by the bus company.

Under the pioneering scheme, bus passengers will be able to put their used cans and bottles in a special recycling vending machine, which will award them with tickets for green travel points for every item they recycle.

For every 50 green points they accumulate they will receive a 20p bus travel voucher, while 100 points will earn a 50p travel discount. A return fare on the route between Ellon and Aberdeen is currently priced at 3.50 – equivalent to 700 recycled items.

Brian Souter, the chief executive of Stagecoach, enthusiastically endorsed the pioneering scheme. He said: "This is a really exciting green partnership that can help local people turn their waste into cheaper bus travel, saving landfill and helping consumers cut their carbon footprint."