Compare that to Nordics, where Norway achieved 95.4% return rate of PET bottles (~0.3 USD return cash-back), and Sweden 84% (~0.15 USD return) [1]. Most countries in EU have landfill ban [2], so most of waste is either burned or recycled. Diverting bottles/cans to return scheme solves garbage sorting problem, which makes it possible to process/recycle 100% of it just by improving recycling facilities.
In my personal opinion, closed loop systems (full ban on landfills) are better for everyone, but require deep systematic changes, potentially using "dirty" psychological tricks, to get done what's really needed. Adding deposits may sound negative from NIMBY/corporate, but it leverages human psychological on last mile (where garbage sorting is easiest) and from empirical evidence achieves what needs to be done.
- [0] https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-... - [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container-deposit_legislation - [2] http://www.cewep.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Landfill-taxe...