Win a week's free lunches with our new reverse vending machines
By: Ellie Evans
Last updated: Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Students and staff can win a week’s free lunches for recycling in our new reverse vending machines.
We’ve introduced five new reverse vending machines across campus: you just feed them your empty plastic bottles and drinks cans to receive a ticket in return.
To enter our fortnightly prize draw, just take your tickets to the Students’ Union reception in Falmer House and put them in the prize box.
How does it work?
When you receive your paper ticket for recycling in one of our reverse vending machines, write your Sussex email address clearly on the back and pop it into the prize draw box at the Students’ Union reception in Falmer House.
Every two weeks, we’ll pick three lucky winners who will each win five lunch vouchers, each worth up to £7.50, for use in any of our campus cafes, including IDS Bar & Kitchen, Falmer Bar and Room 76.
The first prize draw will take place at midday on Tuesday, 27 May.
How to use our reverse vending machines
- Insert your used plastic bottle or drinks can into the designated slot
- The machine uses sensors to identify the material, ensuring it meets the recycling criteria
- You receive a printed voucher to reward your contribution to our recycling efforts
- The machine sorts the material to separate plastic from metal and minimise contamination
- Sorted materials are compacted for efficient storage and transportation, then stored in the machine until it’s full before being collected for recycling.
- The Student Centre (near the Atrium Market)
- Opposite the entrance to Falmer House, near the Bike Shack
- Inside the Sport Centre
- In the foyer of Bramber House opposite the entrance to the Co-op
- The Library Café.
Why have they been introduced?
The reverse vending machines are a great step to start to get everyone into the habit of recycling by rewarding you for doing so. By incentivising people to recycle, it promotes a culture of recycling and changes our behaviours over time.
We aim to recycle half of all our waste on campus by the end of 2025. At the moment, we recycle about a third of it, so we need to find new ways to encourage our campus community to recycle.
And because the plastic bottles and cans are separated out, it also helps us to better monitor the amount being recycled as well as reducing contamination (where the wrong items go into the mixed recycling).
For more information, email sustainable@sussex.ac.uk
Here’s the small print:
3 prize winners will be picked every 2 weeks, starting from Tuesday, 27 May, then on Mondays afterwards.
Each winner will receive 5 x food vouchers worth £7.50 each; vouchers cannot be spent on alcohol. Winners can choose vouchers for either Sussex Uni Food, IDS Bar & Kitchen, or the Students’ Union.Vouchers must be used by 1 August (USSU) or within 3 months (IDS).
When the 3 winners have been chosen, the ballot box will be emptied and the prize draw resets.
Winners have two weeks to collect their vouchers from the Sustainability Team.
This is a trial run for the summer term and we would welcome your feedback. Just email sustainable@sussex.ac.uk to share your views.