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Comment by throw1231312 | Hacker News Reader

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container-deposit_legislation

I can't even begin to imagine the discourse (and "experts" brought on-air at Fox News) that would take place if such legislation was proposed in the US.

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We do. As Fox News likes to point out, it's hard to find a place that'll actually let you recycle for the full refund.

In Europe the store that sold the deposit bottles has to also accept them back.

That used to be true here, but they added so many exceptions that the law isn't really enforced

In Michigan, I never ran into difficulty outside of needing to take it to a store that sells it (Trader Joe's is the biggest pain). Supposedly there were a lot of places putting arbitrary hours on when they accept them now, but I've never heard anyone not get the "full refund" unless a machine malfunctions.

A few states in the US as per your link, do have this system

Differences:

* Single-use plastic bottle have a 25 cent deposit in Germany. This is 5x the 5cents in California.

* Germany has enacted this legislation federally.

* The legislation also requires that any retailer that sells plastic bottles (and glass bottles) must also facilitate the return of these bottles.

I lived in California for a couple of years. I never saw a recycling machine at any Safeway, Walgreens or even Whole Foods while I was there. The closest thing to a "recycling machine" is the army of homeless people pushing trollies filled with bottles to take to a recycling center. I don't think that really counts.

Michigan does have the sorting machines at supermarkets, just like in Germany. Michigan also has a 10¢ deposit.

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