Getting 'paid' for recycling.

A high-tech system in the US scans radio-frequency ID tags embedded in recycling containers and weighs how much each household recycled that week. That data is instantly transmitted to a Web site, where it's converted into points that homeowners can redeem for discounts at stores like CVS or on national brands like Coke.
Basically, it's like a frequent-flier program for recyclers.
Read more here

Carrots always work better than sticks, don't they?

Note also the paragraph about the rising prices of commodities like aluminium and paper making the economics of recycling more viable which relates to this article posted about councils getting in on the act and making profit out of recycling.