Deposit return systems and reverse vending
A small refundable deposit on drink containers, collected back through machines or shops, routinely returns more than 90 percent of bottles and cans.
Deposit systems produce clean, sorted streams of PET, aluminium and glass that recyclers can turn back into bottles. Oregon passed the first US bottle bill in 1971; Germany, the Nordic countries and many others now run national systems, and the EU packaging regulation requires them for most single-use drink bottles by 2029.