A bulk deposit machine has opened at recycling location Droppie in Amsterdam, where residents can return up to 200 plastic bottles and cans at a time to get their statiegeld (deposit money) back.

Amsterdam collection point for hundreds of drink containers

Located on Van Limburg Stirumplein in Amsterdam-West, the first-ever bulk deposit machine was opened at Droppie earlier this week. Now, instead of returning one bottle or can at a time for statiegeld, people can bring bags full of bottles and cans and return up to 200 of them at a time.

The new collection machine can process hundreds of bottles and cans at once. Whether there are large plastic bottles of more than 1 litre worth 25 cents each or small bottles / cans worth 15 cents each, the deposit money from the many drink containers is added up by the machine and put into an account in the recycling store’s app. 

Recyclers can then decide whether they want to donate the accumulated money or have it deposited into their bank account via a Tikkie. The only downside for some is that they cannot get their statiegeld in cash.

More bulk collection points for statiegeld a possibility

Many people have already deposited their bottles and cans at the new bulk collection point in Amsterdam. "The return machines at the supermarkets around here were broken, so I thought I'd come here," a user of the machine told AT5. "This is much faster, so I think I'll come here more often." 

The Amsterdam Alderman for Waste Hester van Buren, who officially opened the bulk machine, has said that the municipality is considering adding more bulk collection points in the city. "We are also looking into the possibility of cash," said Van Buren. Optimisations like these are necessary to make it easier for consumers to deposit their drink containers as previous years saw 133 million euros’ worth of statiegeld deposits uncollected.