Sainsbury’s to spend almost £60k demolishing recycling sites at Garthdee and Berryden amid deposit return scheme fiasco

The supermarket giant is set to get rid of the relatively newly installed recycling points after an application was made to Aberdeen City Council.

By Isaac Buchan

August 5 2024, 5:00 pm

Sainsbury's in Garthdee is one of the stores which will have it's recycling centre removed. Image: Scott Baxter/ DC Thomson

Almost £60,000 will be spent removing recycling points at Sainsbury’s stores in Aberdeen which were installed as part of the controversial deposit return scheme (DRS).

The supermarket giant is set to get rid of the relatively newly installed recycling points at the Garthedee and Berryden Road stores after an application was made to Aberdeen City Council.

The facilities were installed in line with the DRS which was due to be introduced nationwide in July 2022.

This has now been delayed until October 2025 at the earliest..

Sainsbury's Berryden Road store. — The supermarket giant’s Berryden Road store will also see its DRS points demolished. Image: Kami Thomson / DC Thomson.

Sainsbury’s was one of five major supermarkets in the UK to publicly cast doubts on the government project.

What is a Deposit Return Scheme?

Deposit return schemes are commonplace across Europe and are there to encourage people to recycle bottles and cans.

Drinks sold in certain containers will have an extra 20p charge, which is returned once the container is deposited at a recycling point.

A reverse vending machine. — Many businesses have already invested cash in reverse vending machines like this one. Image: Darrell Benns/DC Thomson

The deposit will apply to any single-use container made from PET plastic, metal or glass.

Environmental chiefs say this will reduce litter and climate change with less waste ending up at landfill.

What do Sainsbury’s think?

In April 2023, just before the scheme was delayed, a spokeswoman for the supermarket said the timings were “unattainable” and that “critical information was still missing”.

Later that year, the supermarket began axing its recycling centres at almost 250 UK stores.

A spokesperson at the time said they were axing recycling centres nationwide to “focus on materials which are traditionally harder for customers to recycle at home”.

And Sainsbury’s recycling centres in Aberdeen are next up on the chopping block…

Aberdeen recycling centres put in the bin

Sainsbury’s submitted their application to the council last week to remove their DRS recycling centres in Aberdeen.

They detailed how £20,500 would be spent removing their Berryden facilities, and £37,500 at their Garthdee store.

The Sainsbury's on Berryden Road in Aberdeen. — The Sainsbury’s on Berryden Road in Aberdeen will see it’s DRS point removed before the scheme is even introduced. Image: Kami Thomson/DCT Media

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: ““The deposit return scheme units at our Garthdee and Berryden supermarkets were installed in 2021 as part of an extended trial, during which we have received lots of useful feedback on their design.

“The trial is now ending and we are preparing to remove the units.”