Bottle Return Service Saves Time at Hannaford

KATE NERVIANO

SCARBOROUGH, Maine — In a twist on processing beverage bottle and can returns, Hannaford Bros. here has replaced “reverse vending machines” in 20 of its 51 Maine stores with a service that accepts bags of bottles and cans, and electronically credits consumers for their returns.

The service, called Clynk, also based here, uses technology to take much of the manual labor out of Maine's bottle bill procedures for consumers, while maintaining retailers as the staging and compensation hub. “We sensed a real opportunity to help people improve their recycling behaviors, and we also sensed that grocers were looking for a better way to do it,” said Frank Whittier, a spokesman for Clynk.

The efficiency of the system is what appealed most to Delhaize-owned Hannaford Bros. when Clynk first approached the chain about implementing the program two years ago. “We saw it as a great opportunity to deliver convenience to our customers,” said Hannaford spokesman Michael Norton. “This program was more of a drop-and-go style that we thought they would appreciate.” More than 39,087 Hannaford shoppers have registered with Clynk, said Whittier.

Consumers who sign up for Clynk receive a bar-coded card and recycling bags with personal bar codes. Instead of feeding their empty bottles and cans one at a time into a machine at a Hannaford store, they bring their recyclables in the bar-coded bags to a Clynk return center located either adjacent to the entrance of the store or in the parking lot. Then they simply swipe their card and drop off their bagged recyclables.

Clynk picks up the bags and takes them to its processing center, where the bags and their contents are scanned. Recyclables are then sorted by value, manufacturer, material type and color to maximize the value of the scrap. At the end of the process, the value of the recyclables in each bag is credited to the consumer's online account. Consumers redeem that value by swiping their card at a Clynk in-store kiosk and taking their receipt to the service counter for coupons or cash.

Consumers pay 20 cents per recycling bag, but the fee is deducted from their Clynk account. Hannaford runs promotions that include free recycling bags.

“I think it [Clynk] is doing what we had hoped in the stores,” said Norton. “Where people have had the opportunity to get to know it, they like it.”

Hannaford, which operates more than 164 stores in the Northeast, pays a fee to Clynk that is “significantly less than what their costs used to be,” said Whittier.

Norton did not comment on what Hannaford pays Clynk. He noted that the chain saves labor costs in not handling bottle returns, but he added that “the gain for us is a more convenient experience for the customer, not in a direct cost savings.”

Hannaford plans to expand the service in Maine, said Norton. “Expansion will differ market by market, depending on how much redemption people are doing and who else is in the market,” he said. The chain is also looking into extending the program to its stores in Massachusetts and possibly New York.