Our campaign to increase recycling rates at a Scottish college has been highly commended at a UK awards ceremony.
At the 2026 Awards for Excellence we were nominated in the Campaign of the Year category, which was won by Westminster City Council in partnership with Veolia.
We trialled an incentive across New College Lanarkshire's campuses to increase usage of Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) amongst students and staff, in partnership with the college and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners.
The trial saw 20,177 items recycled across a five-week period, a 7,812% increase in machine usage compared to the same period last year.
Heather McLaughlin, our Campaigns Manager, said: "While it would have been lovely to win the award I am so proud that our campaign was nominated, which is worthy recognition for its fantastic impact.
"We'll see the arrival of a Deposit Return Scheme in 2027 and it's imperative that it is a success from the start. Trials like this, and our other work in this area, will hopefully allow us to ensure that when the scheme is introduced the public are well informed in how to use it and the benefits it will bring.
"Congratulations to Westminster City Council, Veolia and all the other nominees and winners. It was a very inspiring ceremony."
You can read all about our trial with New College Lanarkshire and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners here.
