Many can feel like recycling is a faff and waste of time, especially as it’s difficult to see the benefits it brings to the world. But how would you feel about it if you knew you could get paid for recycling your bottles and cans?
This is the case for several countries around Europe, who have implemented a recycling deposit, or Deposit Return System (DRS), which charges consumers a small, refundable fee when they buy a drink in a single-use container, which is returned when the empty container is brought back to a collection point.
At the moment, over 13 European countries have implemented the recycling deposit scheme, but more are to come as the EU is tracking down on single use plastic, and this include England and Northern Ireland, which will implement similar practices in October 2027.
To show people just how this work, one man who was staying in Amsterdam decided to document the moment he went to recycle all of his single use drinks bottles.
Taking to TikTok, the video began as he collected all of the bottles in his home into a large bag that he could carry with him to the recycling collection point.
“Let’s return these empty cans and bottle,” a voice is heard saying as people are seen packing empty drinks cans and bottles into the reusable shopping bag.
They then walked over to a supermarket, where in the entrance of the store, the collection point could be found as large machines on the wall.
A woman is seen pressing on a touch screen on the wall before they put the bottles into the whole on the wall one at the time. As they’re transferred through the wall, a scanner will can the barcode on the bottles and cans to make sure they are eligible for the deposit scheme.
It will also scan the items to make sure they are in good condition, as broken or damaged items won’t be eligible either – so make sure you don’t crush your can when you’ve finished it!
As you enter the items through the machine, the screen to the side will show you how much money you will get in return.
When you’re done, you either have the option to donate the money to charity, or get a payout. The people in the video opted to get a payout, which made the machine print a receipt with a barcode on it, which also said it’s worth €3 (£2.60).
This receipt can then either be used similarly to a coupon in the store, or you can bring it to the small kiosks inside the stores to get your money in cash.
People were amazed when learning about these deposit scheme, as some expressed their thoughts about it online, while others were left with questions.
“So do they do anything special with the returned bottles? Or do they shred it like every other plastic,” one person asked, to which another replied: “It’s recycled to make new bottles.”
Someone else shared: “I have been doing this all my life, 30 years now. Denmark is amazing.”
