Blackpool and The Fylde College has installed Lancashire’s first Reverse Vending Recycling Machine at its new University Centre in a bid to encourage students and staff to recycle more of their used bottles and cans.

Sustainability Officer Pam Reynolds and Vice Principal Ruth Paisley with students Alison Burns and Linda Dixon

The innovative machine will automatically collect, compact and store used beverage containers and then issue a ‘Deposit Reward’ voucher with a face value of 5 pence for each unit recycled. The vouchers can be redeemed in the new Café Grads in the Central Hub.

The machine also has the capacity to compile statistics of the different types of used beverage containers collected which can then be recorded on the College website to show the success of reverse vend recycling.

This is the latest ‘Green’ initiative to come out of the College’s new University Centre – the new Central Hub building earlier this year became the first building in Blackpool to be awarded pre-construction BREEAM Excellence, praising it’s sustainable design and environmental performance.

Since completion, the Building Research Establishment has officially awarded the build a post-construction ‘Excellent’ accreditation at a score of 74.18%, well over the 70% required and one of only a small number to achieve such a high rating post-construction nationally.

Commenting, Ruth Paisley, Vice Principal of Resources and Planning said:

“We are really pleased to be leading the way environmentally with innovative new ideas and a commitment to reducing our impact on the environment.

“The College was committed to achieving a post-construction BREEAM ‘Excellent’ merit for the Central Hub, meaning we have stuck to our principles and not compromised on environmental impact in order to cut costs.

“I’m sure the ReVend machine will also give students and staff even more of an incentive to recycle their waste.”