A pilot project in Athens offering citizens redeemable coupons for recycling their trash is to be extended across the capital and introduced in Piraeus, Thessaloniki, Patras and Iraklion, authorities said yesterday.

Under the system – called “Compensatory Recycling” – citizens who recycle plastic, metal, paper and other waste are given a coupon, whose value depends on the volume of trash recycled, that they can either donate to the municipality’s recycling kitty or use to get discounts at supermarkets. The scheme will be funded by packaging producers and so costs will not be passed on to consumers, Deputy Mayor Giorgos Dimopoulos told Kathimerini.

Apart from its standard blue recycling bins, Athens already has 25 special compensatory recycling kiosks with slots for different types of trash.

The aim is for another 75 to be set up across Athens next year and dozens more in other cities.