Boots customers may have been annoyed about the latest Advantage points change, but did you know there's an easy way to get extra points at most Boots stores? Not very many people know about the Boots Scan2Go recycling scheme, but you can make a tidy amount by just returning your empties to a store and dropping them in the special bin.
The high street chemist launched its new recycling scheme last September. It was first available as a pilot in 50 stores and has now expanded to a further 650 stores across the country, including most branches in the North East. Although the aim is to to help customers shop and consume more sustainably, there's an bonus for shoppers, as you get 250 Advantage points for every five items you recycle. This will give you £2.50 off your shop the next time you spend £10 or more.
The Boots loyalty card is one of the more generous loyalty cards in the marketplace anyway, with cardholders getting four reward points for every £1 spent in-store or online and this is a great way to boost your savings with no extra effort and this is a good way to recycle those bits and bobs that council recycle schemes do not include, such as toothpaste tubes and make-up packaging.
Read more: How loyalty schemes compare at Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and more
So far, 940,000 items have been recycled, with the most common being Colegate toothpaste, No7 mascara and Boots handwash. Other items that can be recycled under the scheme include makeup, hair products, nail polish remover, soap, shower gels and skincare bottles. Aerosol cans, perfume bottles, nail polish bottles and medicine cannot be recycled using the bins.
The scheme works using Scan2Recycle technology. You will need to register here then scan the items you are planning on recycling with your phone to generate a code. The next day, simply take your empties to the store, drop them in the pink recycling bin, scan your codes and you'll then be sent a barcode, which will need to be taken to a till point to claim the Advantage Points. You can only claim one 250 point reward per day and a maximum of eight per month. That means potentially, you could get £10 of vouchers per month at Boots if you had enough empties.
The scheme is aimed at hard-to-recycle beauty, healthcare and wellness products that cannot be put in council home recycling. Usually this is because they are:
- Too small (travel minis, samples, mascaras, etc)
- Made of composite materials (make-up palettes, compacts, lipsticks, etc)
- Made from non-recyclable materials (toothpaste tubes, lotion pumps, etc)
Boots says it will accept most hard-to-recycle products sold in Boots stores in the recycling box, but is encouraging customers to consider if an item they would like to bring back can be recycled in their local areas (such as any glass and aluminium packaging) and only use the scheme for those that cannot. Once you’ve dropped your empties into the bins in store, they’ll be recycled into Stormboard, a composite construction board material, similar to ply-wood, which has a lot of different uses. Boots have pledged that nothing goes to landfill and nothing is incinerated.
"We know lots of beauty, health, wellness and dental items can’t be recycled traditionally due to their size, what materials they’re made from and various other factors," said a Boots spokesperson. "We want to play our part in looking after the planet by making it easier to recycle items that might be difficult to recycle elsewhere. And we want to reward customers for playing their part and making recycling part of their regime too."
Now read:
- Aldi poised to topple Morrisons as the fourth most popular supermarket
- Shoppers warned of soaring costs as inflation hits highest rate in 14 years
- Which? says Motatos could help give shoppers big discounts
- The Washington discount store where you can get 60 per cent off M&S, Sainsbury's, Tesco & more
- Too Good To Go: The app which lets you get Greggs, Subway, Costa & Pret for a fraction of the price
