Ocado and Co-op are among 60 businesses calling on the government to introduce a digital solution to the proposed Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

According to recycling technology firm Polytag, the retailers have signed an open letter calling on environment minister Mary Creagh to allow home digital scanning, which would see consumers able to recycle drinks containers at home while still getting their deposits back, alongside physical deposit return schemes in stores, Drinks Retailing reported.

Last year, Ocado trialled a digital deposit return scheme – which sends 20p to digital wallets for each code scanned – with Polytag, which was deemed a success.

During the trial, more than 20,000 of the online supermarket’s milk bottles were scanned by consumers through their smartphones before being placed in their home kerbside recycling – totalling reward claims of up to £4,000.

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Ocado Retail senior packaging and sustainability manager Laura Fernandez told the title: “Ocado Retail and Polytag have already clearly demonstrated that shoppers have an appetite for a digital deposit return scheme; we fully support the need for a modern, flexible scheme that embraces digital innovation.

“A digital option is a convenient and a necessary step toward creating a recycling system that really works. This approach would empower consumers, reduce operational strain on retailers, and accelerate progress toward the UK’s circular economy goals.”

It comes as last week, Wales unveiled plans to move forward with its own deposit return scheme in a bid to encourage recycling, as it remains committed to including glass bottles.

This was despite all four governments having previously put out a combined policy statement to facilitate “interoperable schemes across the UK”.

The British Retail Consortium, The Food and Drink Federation, The Association of Convenience Stores and The Industry Council for Packaging and Environment have since labelled the decision by the Welsh government as “extremely disappointing”.

They said in a joint statement: “With industry preparing to invest billions in a UK wide DRS system, on top of new costs arising from the Chancellor’s budget, it is essential that any approach to DRS is aligned across all four nations and delivers improved recycling rates and a reduction in litter across the UK.”