Rethinking plastic bottle recycling

A recent design challenge invited students across of Warwickshire to participate in reimagining how the process of recycling plastic bottles, as inspired by the invention of Bottld, an innovative recycling machine aimed at making plastic recycling more convenient, accessible and automatic.

The challenge stemmed from a pressing environmental concern: the UK consumes an estimated 31 billion single-use drinks containers annually, including 12 billion plastic bottles. Despite growing awareness around recycling, actual recycling rates remained far from ideal. Much of the plastic waste destined for recycling was either incinerated (contributing to pollution) or shipped abroad to countries with limited recycling infrastructure. This reality exposed a gap between awareness and action, prompting urgent innovation.

The UK Government, alongside DAERA in Northern Ireland, and the Scottish and Welsh governments, had expressed an ambition to boost recycling rates to at least 90% through the implementation of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Under this initiative, consumers would pay a small deposit on drink containers, reclaimable upon return. However, the system still relied on complex logistics and carbon-heavy transportation.

Enter Bottld. Designed by Christophe Convert, a seasoned design engineer and founder of Convert Design Ltd, Bottld was conceived after he visited a local waste sorting facility. Disturbed by how much plastic waste ended up in landfills or incinerators, Christophe Convert was inspired to create a machine that addressed these inefficiencies head-on. His research into existing reverse vending machines revealed issues with large physical footprints and reliance on barcodes, which limited usability. Bottld overcame these challenges by using technology that could identify plastic types without the need for barcodes, ensuring even damaged or label-less bottles could be processed.

Over the past two years, Christophe Convert and his team conducted extensive research, secured patents, sourced materials and tested various prototypes. The result was a compact, smart machine capable of sorting and shredding plastic bottles on-site, drastically reducing the need for transport and associated emissions.

The design challenge invited students to help shape the visual identity of Bottld. Participants were asked to submit creative designs for the exterior of the machine, with winners having their artwork featured on real units. The first-place design would be showcased on a machine installed at the winner’s school, while second and third place designs would be displayed in community settings.

This initiative not only aimed to promote sustainability but also to engage young people in climate-positive innovation. By transforming recycling into an automatic, everyday action, Bottld and the design challenge sought to shift public perception, treating plastic bottles not as waste, but as a resource.