Merlin theme parks to half-price tickets in Coke plastic recycling offer

UK theme parks such as Legoland and Thorpe Park owned by Merlin Entertainment have joined Coca-Cola in a recycling project that will offer tourists a half-price ticket to the park in exchange for used plastic bottles.

'Reverse vending machines' will be installed at the entrances of Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland where users will be rewarded with half- price discount vouchers when depositing any 500ml plastic bottle. The vouchers can then be redeemed at all 30 Merlin attractions in the UK.

Research by Coca-Cola reveals 64% of Britons would recycle more if they were rewarded instantly for their actions.

“We want to reward people for doing the right thing by recycling their bottles and hope to encourage some people who wouldn’t otherwise have done so,” said Jon Woods, general manager of Coca-Cola UK & Ireland. “All of our bottles can be recycled and we want to get as many of them back as possible so they can be turned into new bottles and not end up as litter.”

Currently only 43% of 13bn plastic bottles sold a year are recycled. In March this year, Michael Gove the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs announced plans to launch a mandatory deposit system for bottles and cans in the UK althought the details are still unclear.