Evian and Sainsbury’s have partnered and announced the in-store roll out of ‘Return4Reward’.

‘Return4Reward’ is a new digital reward scheme in partnership with digital green-tech company, re-universe (previously Reward4Waste), to encourage recycling behaviour amongst supermarket shoppers.

Through ‘Return4Reward,’ visitors to Sainsbury’s Enfield branch are invited to take part in the digital scheme and will be incentivised to recycle their drink containers in store to be in with a chance to win tickets to Wimbledon in 2023, to which Evian is also a long-term sponsor. 

The in-store activation, live for two weeks from the 17th October, will encourage shoppers to recycle their empty water bottles and cans through a QR code that can be found on the designed return point.

By scanning the QR code and then the barcode on their Evian bottle or can via the re-universe web-app, consumers will be entered into a draw for a chance to win finals tickets to Wimbledon, The Championships 2023.

The rewards recycling scheme was successfully introduced at Wimbledon earlier this Summer, as part of the brand’s role as the Official Water of The Championships.

Now, Sainsbury’s shoppers in Enfield will have a change to engage with this digital focused recycling platform all in the convenience of their local branch.

The activity is running as part of the supermarket’s Plan4Better scheme; a business wide strategy of which a key focus is supporting the expansion of circular economy supply chains through their recycling approach.

This pilot reward scheme is part of Evian’s longer-term commitment to become a 100% circular brand by 2025 and sees Evian explore how digital technology can be successful in engaging consumers and encouraging recycling.

Government led Deposit Return Schemes to encourage recycling are due to be introduced across the UK, starting with Scotland in 2023.

Evian’s trial of a reward recycling scheme follows the UK Government’s DRS consultation in 2021.

Deposit schemes have proven to be very effective to incentivise consumers and achieve recycling rates at 90% and higher for drinks containers.

Already successfully implemented in other countries, they also create a stream of bottles that can be made into new bottles (rPET), with CO2 savings as a result of the reduced demand for new plastics (virgin PET).

Dillon McEvoy, head of marketing, Evian, said: “We are proud to work in collaboration with a retail partner that is aligned with our ethos and ambition of operating with a circular approach to plastic usage, as we know Sainsbury’s shoppers are becoming increasingly eco-conscious in their shopping habits.”

“This transformative collection system is just the first step in our journey with Sainsbury’s, to help achieve our shared goal of operating as circular brands.”

Claire Hughes, director of product and innovation at Sainsbury’s said: “As part of our ongoing commitment to make it easier for customers to recycle we’re pleased to be partnering with Evian to provide an incentive that we hope will help encourage shoppers at our Enfield branch to recycle their Evian bottles.”

“We are dedicated to testing and trialling new initiatives in order to reduce, reuse, replace and recycle packaging whilst helping our customers do the same and hope this collaboration will help us to continue doing that, playing our part in helping to protect the planet for generations to come.”

Tony McGurk, chairman, re-universe, added: “We saw strong visitor engagement during our digital recycling reward scheme with Evian at Wimbledon earlier this year, so we anticipate that Sainsbury’s shoppers will respond well to this new in-store set up, offering North Londoners a convenient accessible way to recycle.”