People have been shocked to learn that some Europeans get paid to recycle single use cans and bottles – and the same practice will some come to England and Northern Ireland
Many people find recycling a hassle and pointless, particularly when it’s hard to witness the positive impact it has on our planet. But what if you discovered you could earn money from recycling your bottles and cans?
This is exactly what happens in numerous European nations, which have introduced a recycling deposit or Deposit Return System (DRS) that adds a small, refundable charge when consumers purchase drinks in single-use containers, with the fee returned when the empty container is taken back to a collection point. Currently, more than 13 European countries have rolled out the recycling deposit scheme, with additional nations set to follow as the EU cracks down on single-use plastic.
This will also include England and Northern Ireland, which will introduce similar measures in October 2027.
To demonstrate how this operates, one bloke staying in Amsterdam chose to film himself recycling all his single-use drinks bottles.
Posting on TikTok, the clip started with him gathering all the bottles from his accommodation into a large bag he could transport to the recycling collection point.
“Let’s return these empty cans and bottle,” a voice can be heard saying while people are shown stuffing empty drinks cans and bottles into the reusable shopping bag.
They then made their way to a supermarket, where at the entrance of the shop, the collection point was located as massive machines mounted 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 to 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.”
A third person shared: “I have been doing this all my life, 30 years now. Denmark is amazing.”