A co-operative venture between Stirlingshire Vending and Reverse Vending Corporation brings reVend & Spend, a product innovation that utilizes advanced technology to identify, sort, collect and process used beverage containers.
Reverse vending machines (RVMs) are as the name suggests, vending machines that allow consumers to deposit used beverage containers. Instead of spewing out junk food, the machines invite customers to insert their trash for recycling. Once a customer deposits a used container, the machine sorts it and crushes, compresses or shreds, reading a container's barcode to determine the type of material. Capacity varies per model, but stand alone machines hold 1000 cans and/or PET bottles before needing to be emptied. The machines run on about 40 watts of electricity per day.
The basic premise behind the concept is that consumers get the ‘feel good factor’ by doing something for the environment in an easy and efficient way. Machines can come fitted with a modem that monitors the success of the machine and can publish recycling statistics. In the future, award schemes could be set up whereby organizations/schools can be recognized and awarded for how much they’ve recycled.
Machines can also be fitted to dispense vouchers which customers can collect and cash in as further incentive to reVend. Ideal for workplaces or schools, it’s a great way to excite children about recycling. Every large company, school, shopping mall and tourist attraction could do with a few of these machines. That's a big market. If you're an entrepreneur with a thing for vending machines, get in touch with ReVend!
Website: www.reversevending.co.uk
Contact: info@reversevending.co.uk
These are very common in the United States. Some US states have laws that require a deposit be charged on cans, bottles and PET bottles. In order to simplfy the return process grocery stores use these machines that then issue a "credit" voucher that can be used at the checkout.
In Finland machines like these have been used for ages (10 years or so) and every grocery store has at least one. There is a deposit on each can and the machines give out either coins or "credit vouchers". You can also donate your deposit for a good cause just by pushing a different button. Reverse vending for bottles has been around for at least 20 years, but in that case the store has to have a "back room" operation behind the machines in order to handle the returned bottles.
We're very familiar with the grocery store machines that take cans and bottles, but those do indeed need a back room. The machines above are stand-alone and can be placed just about anywhere.
The grocery store machines that take only cans don't need a backroom and they have been around for ten years, as I mentioned. The innovativeness, to my mind, comes from the idea of placing these machines "just about anywhere". This has not been done. 90% of the cans are returned in Finland even without this, so I don't know if it's economically justifiable to scatter them around, though.
Reverse Vending Machines are in use for the last 28 years around the world . There are in excess of 90,000 in operation in 44 countries worldwide . Not only are they used to return deposits but have been proven to significantly lower Co2 through the reduction of transport needed for collections by crushing shredding and compactine used beverage containers . They also rule out "human error" as the machine sorts the containers by material and Colour , which guarantees no contamination of cross products , materials and colours .
Envipco were the 1st company to invent the Reverse Vending Machine - www.envipco.com and have been the market leaders in technology and improving RVM service .
These machines genuinley make a difference to the Environment - an average collection truck creates 9.5 tonnes of Co2 pa and when you consider that between 25% and 90% of the recyclables they transport are AIR - then i think their introduction to replace bottlebanks is not questionable .
James
Actually, the oldest Reverse Vending Machine I have seen a reference to was a Swedish machine from Wicanders from 1956. So Envipco were not the first, and neither are they the largest. The Norwegian company Tomra Systems started in 1972, and now have more than 80% of the world market.
This is not a - im bigger than you contest here .
The whole world knows that Tomra currently have the market share . However see below quote from Envipco website
"ENVIPCO is long recognized as the industry leader in the field of reverse vending. The reverse vending machine was invented by Bruce DeWoolfson, ENVIPCO's founder. "
http://www.envipco.com/reverse.asp
I would very much like to see the article you refer to One should not make claims without forwarding the evidence to support it .
info@ellicro.ie I would love to have this article as we currently supply Envipco RVMs which are the worlds 2nd largest producer of RVM's .
Awaiting your reply and link to article .
James
One last thing
I added to this blog to further better the case for the introduction of these units in every country . I also placed published facts in my statement .
This is not a he said she said place - FAJ - If your a business person - Id keep far away from doing business with you - you seem more intent on causing disturbance than getting business done .
JC
James,
I did not mean to start a flame war. My intention was merely to say that RVMs are older than you said in your post. The 1956 RVM I mentioned was installed in Per Fremstad's store PF-Hallen in Oslo. This was a Swedish model, so I assume it was in use in Sweden even before that. However, these early models were based on mechanical recognition of bottles, and were not as sophisticated as the machines that came in the 1970s. I have no doubt that Bruce DeWoolfson invented *a* RVM, but he did not invent *the* RVM. And neither did Tomra, even though they made their machine before DeWoolfson. 28 years ago should mean that he invented it in 1978. Tomra's RVM was invented in 1971/72 (http://tomra.com/default.asp?V_ITEM_ID=347). At the time DeWoolfson invented his RVM, Tomra had installed RVMs in several American states (mainly Georgia and New York, see http://tomra.com/default.asp?V_ITEM_ID=348). Several American companies already produced mechanical RVMs before this time. But let's put that aside - I agree that RVMs are a great environmental technology, and I do believe that there is room - and need - for more than one producer of RVMs.