This machine doesn’t see plastic bottles as trash ♻️
I spotted this bottle-return machine inside a supermarket in Thailand and was really struck by the message: “Clear plastic (PET) bottles are valuable, don’t throw them away!”
Rather than just being a normal recycling bin, there’s actually a small reward built in: if you collect 100 bottles, you get a free reusable bag, which is a nice little extra.
As you can see from the photo, the machine wasn’t working when I saw it (might need to be emptied!). Still, I quite liked the idea behind it. It made me realize that plastic isn’t always the whole problem; a lot depends on what systems are in place after we use it.
This machine gives people an obvious path for plastic bottles after using them, and actually makes the next step so obvious that people barely have to think.
I love seeing different companies designing better routes for materials after use. In this case, the company has a great idea for a machine, but just needs to look into maintaining the machine a little more regularly!
This made me wonder: how much is waste really just a logistics problem?
