Pret to trial bottle deposit return scheme in Brighton shops
Over 7,000 customers responded to the blog post of Pret's CEO Clive Schlee and 80% believe it’s a good idea.
Following customer feedback, Pret is planning to trial a 10p plastic bottle deposit return scheme in three shops in Brighton from the 10th of April. Pret will accept and recycle all plastic bottles taken into Pret shops in Brighton and return a 10p deposit when Pret-branded plastic bottles are handed in.
The plastic bottle deposit return scheme trial will run in Pret’s three Brighton shops which will include Brighton Station, 42 East Street, and 77 North Street.
In Britain, it's estimated that as a nation just over half of the bottles that were sold in 2016 were recycled. Meanwhile, countries such as Denmark and Germany have seen rates of recycling grow to more than 90% after introducing deposit return schemes.
In his blog post, Schlee said, "The idea is that we would add 10p to all plastic bottles and return 10p for each Pret bottle given back to our teams to recycle. The aim is to understand how many bottles are returned and to see if it encourages more customers to opt for a reusable bottle. We will of course reinvest any unclaimed deposits in future sustainability work.
"It will take time to eliminate unnecessary plastic, but I hope this sort of initiative will bring that day forward by drawing attention to the issue and stimulating new ideas. We'd like to trial a deposit scheme this April in Brighton. We've chosen Brighton because we have three busy shops there and we know the local people are highly attuned to the environment. If it is successful we could extend the scheme across the country during the autumn of 2018," he added.
