New photographs have emerged showing major progress on the bottle recycling facility taking shape outside Aldi on Drove Road in Swindon. The exterior of the structure, which will house so called reverse vending machines, appears to be largely finished, with shoppers soon able to feed in plastic bottles and aluminium cans in return for a small cash payment.
The build is a joint venture between Aldi and DSP Construction Management, the firm responsible for similar units at other branches across the UK, and is expected to be a permanent fixture rather than a passing trend. The project caused some disquiet among shoppers back in August, when it emerged that the facility was being built on what used to be the store's disabled parking bays. Aldi said at the time that the bays were being temporarily repurposed and apologised for the inconvenience, promising new permanent disabled bays would follow. The firm is also preparing for the UK government's national Deposit Return Scheme, which launches in October 2027, and has already trialled smart tracking labels on milk bottles elsewhere to make sure they reach proper recycling centres rather than landfill.
Since August, the car park has operated on what staff are reportedly calling a rolling bay arrangement, in which the disabled bays move a few feet to the left roughly every time somebody gets used to where they are. Regulars describe it as being less like a supermarket car park and more like a slow motion game of musical chairs, except nobody wins and everyone is still carrying shopping.
A council spokesperson said parking provision at the site remained compliant throughout, provided compliance is measured at the exact moment a photograph is taken rather than, say, the following Tuesday. It is understood a temporary sign reading 'temporary' has itself now been in place longer than some permanent fixtures elsewhere in the town.
Gary Tench, Area Manager at Tench Paper Solutions in Westlea, said the saga had given him a new way of describing his own department's hot desking policy. 'Temporarily repurposed, permanent fix coming soon, that's basically my desk since March,' he said. 'I've started bringing my own nameplate in case the chair moves again. I mentioned it to Julie and she just handed me a Blu Tack.'
Brenda Pask, 72, of Old Town, who has lived there since before it was old, said she had been watching the bay shuffle with some interest from the bus stop opposite. 'I'm not one to gossip,' she said, 'but I hear a woman from Rodbourne had to park three streets away last Tuesday and walk the rest, bags and all, while a machine stood there quite happily eating cans for pocket money. In Ron's day the only thing that gave you money back for standing still was the betting shop, and at least that had the decency to be honest about it.'
Aldi has not confirmed whether the new permanent disabled bays will arrive before or after the machines become fully operational, though shoppers have been encouraged to see the glass half full, or in this case, the bottle half empty and worth ten pence.
At time of writing, the reverse vending machines stood gleaming and ready, drawing more admiring glances from passers by than the temporary disabled bays ever did. The bays, when contacted, had already moved again and could not be reached for comment.