Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) and the University of Reading are trialling a new way to reduce soft drinks packaging.

They have installed smart drink dispensers and provided 1,500 refillable bottles to students – the containers are micro-chipped to ensure payment has been made and track how many times the refillable bottle is used.

CCEP and the University of Reading will be monitoring the impact the scheme has on recycling and littering of soft drinks packaging at the sites where the machines are installed.

Matt Tebbit, Catering and Bars Manager at the University of Reading, said: “Around 650,000 plastic bottled drinks are used on our campuses each year, so this partnership will help the university to reduce this considerably.

“The new drinks machines will cut traffic around campus and carbon emissions as refill cartridges can be delivered by courier rather than lorries.”