Can bringing your glass bottles back to the store save you money ?

Rather than sorting them, you might prefer to return your glass bottles to the store for a small deposit. Is this possible ?

What to do with your empty glass bottles ? Usually, you must either put them in the green bin in your building or take them to the green bin closest to you. They will then be recovered and recycled. Nevertheless, for several years, the idea of ​​also being able to bring them back into stores has been emerging. 

In 2022, for example, according to Capital, Carrefour wanted to test the recovery of glass bottles. The brand then proposed; in four stores in Brittany a "Reportez-moi" department. After purchasing their bottles, customers could bring them back and place them in a “returnable bottle collector” machine. Their travel allowed them to reuse the bottles rather than destroying them, but in addition, they received compensation. They could get twenty cents per bottle brought back. The store then sorted the bottles before they were collected by a company. local, washed and put back into service. These bottles would be reusable until the end of the year. twenty times.

In June 2023, the Secretary of State & Ecology in office has also announced the generalization of this system within two years. An obligation could then soon concern certain supermarkets depending on their surface area. The deposit should then be set between ten and thirty cents per bottle. As previously reported, Le Télégramme, Bérangère Couillard had explainedé that it was a matter of achieving the objective of phasing out plastic packaging by 2040 and that this involves the "r& ;eacute;use of glass". To encourage brands à To get started, a fund of 50 million euros had to be released. 

Où where we stand today ? No legislation yet requires traders to pay take back your glass bottles or containers. 60 million consumers reportedé that in an organic store, a customer was in fact refused to return a glass bottle in exchange for a small refund. Certain brands, however, continue to experiment but they can choose their deposit system: voucher, coffee, etc. offered, deferred payment… They can also set reimbursement conditions such as an obligation for another purchase for example. This process could therefore be generalized. quickly in order to encourage the reuse of such containers as is increasingly done in the fast food sector for example.