THE recycling habits of residents in Conwy are will be tracked as part of a pilot scheme to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

The four-week trial, which is the first of its kind in Wales, involves households in the Colwyn Heights area that can earn rewards for their local school by scanning their recycling.

Conwy County Borough Council is working with the Welsh Government, tag and trace firm Polytag and sustainability organisation WRAP to trial the new deposit return scheme.

Residents will be visited by recruiters and those who agree to sign up, will be given a set of plastic water bottles with the Polytag unique codes. Once they have used the bottles, they will be scanned using a free app before putting them out for recycling as usual.

The bottles will then be scanned by the local authority's household waste recycling team on collection day.

For each bottle scanned at either end of the deposit return process, householders will receive a digital token worth 20p. The tokens will then be donated to raise funds for Ysgol Pen y Bryn.

Greg Robbins, cabinet member for environment and transportation, said: “We’re delighted to be taking part in this pilot recycling scheme and encourage residents in Colwyn Heights to get involved. It’s an exciting opportunity to use technology to track and make the most of recyclable materials while raising money for the local school.”

Digital deposit return schemes allow local authorities, brands and regulators to monitor recycling rates so that they can analyse the habits of households.

Interviews with residents and recycling crews after the trial will provide more information on how the scheme could be used across Wales.

Julie James, Welsh Government Minister for Climate Change, said: “I would like to congratulate all partners – including Polytag, Conwy County Borough Council and WRAP – for the work they’ve put in to ensuring this trial can take place and importantly that it can so safely and in line with Covid-19 guidance.

“We hope this trial will create a more flexible system for consumers than having to return items such as bottles or containers themselves, and will link in well with existing infrastructure already in place at the household recycling collection systems run by local authorities.

“By taking advantage of new technologies, we can move closer on our route to a circular economy – and I look forward to seeing the results of the trial once it has taken place.

The technology has been developed by Polytag, based in Deeside, which has carried out a similar trial on the Wirral, where 91 per cent of tagged packaging was successfully recycled.

Phil Sutton, Polytag founder and chief technology officer, said: “We’re delighted that Polytag’s technology has been recognised by a national government as a solution to improve recycling rates exponentially.

“We are confident that Polytag will integrate seamlessly with Wales’ existing waste collections and that consumers will see the benefits immediately.”