Supermarkets support groundbreaking recycling campaign
12 March 2004
An innovative communications campaign has just been launched in London supermarkets using in-store promotional materials to encourage shoppers to recycle more of their rubbish.
A national first, commencing in March 2004, the five-week campaign represents a unique partnership between local waste awareness initiative Rethink Rubbish Western Riverside, the national Rethink Rubbish campaign and leading retailers Asda, Safeway, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
The campaign is working with nineteen supermarkets across the London boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham and Wandsworth, aiming to increase consumer awareness of the range of materials that can be recycled in the councils’ weekly orange sack collection. Eye-catching advertising on shopping trolleys, baskets and supermarket floors, as well as point-of-sale materials strategically positioned around the store will highlight recyclable items.
“Recycling tonnages have more than doubled and participation rates have greatly increased in both boroughs, since the introduction of the co-mingled orange sack scheme,” says campaign spokesperson Dee Moloney.
However, recent MORI/Open University research and a local waste audit, commissioned by Rethink Rubbish Western Riverside, show that residents still require clarification as to what materials can and cannot be recycled (42% of respondents in Hammersmith & Fulham and 62% in Wandsworth).
“Most people know they can recycle paper and glass bottles but this campaign aims to get people recycling the lesser-known items – such as glass jars, empty aerosols, food tins and plastic bottles,” says Jim Fielder, Waste Watch Campaign Manager.
“Supermarkets offer a high-traffic environment where a large proportion of local residents will be exposed to our recycling messages. We hope to change habits by using on-shelf prompts so that people will start to automatically associate recycling with the items they regularly purchase, but would normally throw away when empty – such as shampoo bottles or cereal boxes.”
The supermarket campaign is reinforced by internal and external advertising on 650 London buses, across the two boroughs. Campaign staff will also be manning stands, where they will be talking to shoppers and providing information on recycling.