Why do people at the bottle return act like they've never seen a aluminum can before?
2026-03-14 18:35 UTC
Replies (8)
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@Ephera@lemmy.ml 2026-03-14 19:45
These machines used to require you to put the barcode into the right position. Maybe they’re still used to those machines and therefore look for the barcode on each container?
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@Jollyllama@lemmy.world 2026-03-15 12:04
Do you live near the border with Ohio and Indiana? I don’t think those states have a deposit program. Michigan may have a rule they only take cans that are properly marked. The recycling center may not get paid of an Ohio or Indiana can comes through their system. I live in Maine and our cans are stamped ME-10¢.
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@Natanael@slrpnk.net 2026-03-14 19:19
Here in Sweden we have that too, and we just got new machines in many of the bigger stores which sorts for you. You open the lid and there's an angled wheel with indents which pulls up the bottles and cans you pour in from your bags, and they end up on a conveyor belt for scanning and sorting. While not magically fast, it really does help when people have a ton of bottles and cans
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@its_kim_love@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2026-03-14 19:07
Probably because, like most of us, they are underpaid, under trained, and over worked.
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@HubertManne@piefed.social 2026-03-14 19:52
man I wish this was national.
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@davel@lemmy.ml 2026-03-14 18:58
I don’t know. Why don’t you ask them next time?
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@TechnoCat@piefed.social 2026-03-15 11:39
Because each store only takes cans from products sold there. So if you buy from 2 grocery stores you gotta do it twice. They might be checking it is one taken at Meijer or whole foods or whatever.
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@jbellows@piefed.social 2026-03-15 13:25
I have memory issues. Whenever I recycle I forget what a recyclable container is. And phone chargers.