Michigan Meijer Stores Testing New bottle return machines
Meijer Stores in Michigan could revolutionize how customers redeem their 10-cent refunds. A new, large-capacity bottle return machine is being tested. The concept is like a giant Coin Star machine,…
Meijer Stores in Michigan could revolutionize how customers redeem their 10-cent refunds. A new, large-capacity bottle return machine is being tested.
The concept is like a giant Coin Star machine, but for bottles and cans
The machines developed by Tomra allow consumers to drop a significant number of empty bottles and cans in at the same time rather than inserting them one by one.
The machines then calculate the number of containers eligible for a refund and process them for recycling.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy provided a grant for Norway-based Tomra to purchase and install the machines.
Meijer stores in Waterford and Wyoming near Grand Rapids are the first to deploy the machines as part of a pilot program. The retail giant has no current plans to expand the pilot program to additional stores.
Here's How It Works
See how to use the new TOMRA R1 reverse vending machine! TOMRA R1 brings easy, mess-free recycling and lets you pour over 100 empty drink containers into the machine in one go - rather than inserting them one by one.
Where Can I Find The New Bottle Return Machines?
Meijer stores in Waterford and Wyoming near Grand Rapids are the first to deploy the machines as part of a pilot program. The retail giant has no current plans to expand the pilot program to additional stores.
Here's the fun part: You don't have to separate your aluminum from your plastic
They can all go in the same machine. You still have to do glass bottles separately. Don't have to load each bottle individually. You just dump the whole bag into the machine at once.
Bottle Return in Michigan Down Since Covid Era
Bottle return rates in Michigan have dropped significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Falling from a pre-pandemic high of nearly 90% (89% in 2019) to a record low of 70.4% in 2024.
The decline is largely attributed to the program's temporary shutdown in 2020, which disrupted consumer habits, and to the low, stagnant value of the 10-cent deposit.
This new way of returning cans might change the way people feel. Still plagued with long lines and broken machines.
