British retail big provides prospects £5 to recycle empty toiletries

A British retail giant has launched a new incentive to get people recycling – the chance to earn money for your planet-saving efforts. 

Boots UK says it’ll pay customers 500 points to recycle five old toiletry products such as deodorant and skin lotion bottles.

A video shared to Instagram by student money-wise site, Save the Student, explains that Boots offers £1 in points for every bottle recycled, with a maximum of five products per transaction.

As Advantage card holders will already know, 500 points equals £5, which can be used once you spend £10 in store – effectively earning you 50 per cent off a £10 Boots shop. 

How to do it? Customers need to simply download the Recycle at Boots app, then scan the five items they’re recycling before dropping them off at a dedicated point in Boots’ stores.  

The clip explains: ‘Stop throwing your toiletries in the bin because you could be making £1 on every single item.

Boots has launched an exciting new incentive to get people recycling – and you can earn money while at it

The British retailer is paying its customers a whopping £5 in points to recycle old toiletry products, such as deodorant and skin lotion bottles

‘Right now you can get £5 worth of points when you recycle with Boots. All you have to do is download the Recycle at Boots app, register, and then you can scan your five products through’.

In the video an unknown woman can be seen scanning a variety of products, including an empty toothpaste tube and a number of used toiletry bottles.

She threw them in a carrier bag before heading to her local Boots store.

During her journey she instructed shoppers to find a ‘drop-off recycling box’ in the building.

Once there, she found a QR code on the box which she scanned into her Recycle at Boots app.

She then previewed a screen showing that her five items had been accepted for recycling. 

‘So I’ve got three days to redeem this voucher in store when I spend £10 – effectively getting me a £10 shop for half price’ she explained. 

‘Bargain!’ she exclaimed. ‘So, recycle your empties, get vouchers and remember to follow us for all the best deals and hacks’.

In a caption accompanying the post, she directed users to check the link in her Instagram biography for more details.

To earn money and activate your points, just download the Recycle at Boots app and drop off your used bottles to your nearest Boots store

The news comes as more than 300 Boots stores are set to close this year, with some branches already confirmed to have shut.  

The high street giant shut 12 branches in the months leading up to March, with more expected to come later in the year.

In total, shoppers can expect to see around 300 outlets axed as the popular health chain slashes its number of shops from 2,200 to 1,900.

Boots has revealed the closing dates for the next few branches set to close, but not all dates and locations have been announced yet and are expected to follow later this year.

This is the third wave of closures made by the company, as Boots has already shut down 14 stores earlier this year.

The stores that have already closed include Cambridge Road in Stansted, Chaston Place in Watton, Lothian in Scotland, Bryn in Wigan, Cathcart Road in Glasgow and Margate in Cliftonville, Kent.

The company said it was merging ‘a number of stores in close proximity to each other’, and that affected employees had been offered ‘alternative roles’.