Good News For the Occasional "Clinkers"
• Free bags Being Made Available
May 11, 2010 – SCARBOROUGH, Maine – Hannaford Supermarkets and CLYNK, which offers a convenient way to return and recycle beverage containers, announced today that they will begin a six-month trial program offering CLYNK bags free of charge to individuals who return beverage containers infrequently.
The bags are available beginning this month and may be obtained at the Customer Service desks at Hannaford stores where CLYNK manages bottle returns. The free bags, holding 10 to 15 containers each, will be given out three at a time.
"These bags are smaller than the standard CLYNK bags customers receive free-of-charge when they open their account," said Michael Norton, Hannaford spokesperson. "We think offering more free bags will make it easier for vacationers and occasional users to benefit from the convenience of the service without needing to buy a bag."
CLYNK currently manages bottle redemption at 25 Hannaford stores in southwestern and central Maine, with more scheduled to open later this year. The first CLYNK installation opened in 2006.
Unlike conventional bottle returns, which require customers to wait for time-consuming hand counts or feed returnables one-by-one into machines, CLYNK customers place returnables in a special CLYNK plastic bag at home and simply drop the bag off at CLYNK recycling centers in the stores.
"Customers who use the service tell us that they love the convenience,"
Norton said. "Drop and go means more people redeem containers, and that supports our efforts to reduce the waste stream."
A barcode sticker on each bag identifies the customer. After the containers are scanned at CLYNK's central processing center, bottle return fees are credited to the customer's account. Customers redeem their return fees at CLYNK kiosks in the participating stores.
Hannaford and CLYNK already give 10 large bags to new CLYNK users – enough for a year's worth of returns for most customers. Adding the new, smaller bags will make it easy for occasional users of the service to benefit from its convenience and address concern about the potential to need to purchase a bag for minimal use.
Clayton Kyle, chief executive officer of CLYNK, said the company will hand out the free bags to account holders who request them. "CLYNK is extremely convenient for regular customers," he said. "We want to be sure that it's convenient for everyone to recycle their bottles and cans."
There is no limit to the number of bags that will be available to customers requesting them, but Kyle said CLYNK will monitor the accounts to ensure that the bags are used for container returns and not for other purposes.
"Part of our mission is to reduce the amount of waste generated in our coverage areas," Kyle said. "That includes the bags themselves. We recycle everything the customer gives us."
To qualify for the free bags, customers must establish a CLYNK account.
How does CLYNK work?
First, customers set up an account with CLYNK. They can do this at the CLYNK Web site (www.clynk.com) or at the Hannaford Customer Service at any CLYNK location. They'll be given 10 free bags, bag tags with a unique bar code on it, and a CLYNK membership card.
CLYNK customers simply place their cleaned returnables into one of our bags. When the bag is full, they put a tag on it and take it to a CLYNK location. They scan their membership card, which unlocks the door of the return center, and place the bag in the return center chute.
CLYNK personnel pick up the bags and take them to our central processing facility. Each bag tag is scanned, the bag is opened and the containers are then counted using a highly accurate scanning machine. The returnable fee is immediately credited to that customer's account.
The containers and bags are then automatically sorted by material type and prepared for shipment to the appropriate recycling facility.
About Hannaford Supermarkets
Hannaford Supermarkets, based in Scarborough, Maine, operates 174 stores and employs more than 27,000 associates in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. Most Hannaford locations have full-service pharmacies and all stores feature Guiding Stars, the nation's first storewide nutrition navigation system. For additional information, visit www.hannaford.com.
