The return-them challenge

There is something about my country that really bothers me. It is not the people, the weather, or the public transport. (Well, I must admit some of them sometimes bother me too, but first place goes to someone else).

I am talking about those returnable bottles available in every supermarket. The system used to work as follows: You buy a bottle, you drink, you return it, you get money back. Then they changed it. Every supermarket had its OWN type of returnable bottle (I am not kidding), and you had to bring every bottle back to where you bought it. Otherwise, you won’t get your money back, which is about 15 Eurocents per bottle.

In 2006, they changed the system again: All types of returnable plastic bottles (glass bottles are another species) were furnished with a sign. The rule now states that EVERY supermarket has to take every bottle back, as long as it has the sign (sounds spooky, doesn’t it ).

Anyway, today I found myself returning plastic and glass bottles, and it turned out the supermarket has got TWO machines for returning bottles. I had to switch between machines to get all bottles returned, not knowing why there is more than one machine necessary. Finally I got a coupon for about 1,95 Euros. And felt quite exhausted… How is the system for returnable bottles in your country? Is there any system?