Why we're not getting more of those all-at-once bottle machines soon

• New bulk-return machines allow shoppers to redeem an entire bag of bottles and cans at once.
• These more convenient machines are not widely available in Michigan due to their cost and the state’s incentive structure.
• Under Michigan’s bottle bill, retailers make more money when fewer containers are returned.

For any shopper who’s fed one bottle or can after another into the redemption machine at the supermarket for those 10-cent beverage deposit returns, it sounds like a breakthrough: a machine where you dump your whole bag of plastic bottles and aluminum cans in at once, press a button and get your deposit money counted and returned to you.

The company behind those supermarket machines, TOMRA, has a model that does that all-at-once counting, known as the R1. They are in widespread use in Europe and in other U.S. bottle and can deposit states. But in Michigan, the R1 is only in use at two stores: Meijer stores in Wyoming and Waterford. The machines are quite popular in those stores, with shoppers sometimes waiting with their bottles and cans to use the R-1 rather than a one-at-a-time machine.

TOMRA even has a newer machine ready to roll out in the U.S., the R2, that accepts metal, plastic and glass containers all in one bin. The machine has the capability to repay consumers on their phone upon request.

So why aren’t these popular, more convenient machines showing up at stores all across the state? Cost and motivation to change.

‘The incentive structure is not in place’

“At the moment in Michigan’s bottle bill, the incentive structure is not in place to encourage retailers or others to offer faster, more convenient technology like this – at least not at a higher investment level,” said Michael Noel, public affairs director for TOMRA, an international recycling and reuse technology and services provider based in Michigan in Wixom.

The bulk machines are more expensive, and stores don’t make money by increasing the number of bottles and cans they redeem − in fact, under Michigan’s bottle bill enacted in 1976, stores make more money if there are fewer returns. Those 10-cent bottle and can deposits that aren’t redeemed, money known as escheat, is sent to the state Department of Treasury, with 25% of the money returned to retailers collecting the containers and 75% given to EGLE’s Cleanup and Redevelopment Fund for environmental remediation and pollution prevention.

“It means the industry actually has a greater incentive to recycle less containers than more, though many like Meijer go above and beyond to offer a better redemption experience,” Noel said. “For this reason, it’s likely Michiganders will not see bulk reverse vending machines expanded beyond these two stores.”

Bottle returns statewide lagging

Michigan’s 10-cent beverage bottle and can deposit program was once the envy of the recycling nation, boasting a return rate above 95%. But in recent years, it has slumped badly. The state shut down bottle return centers during COVID-19, and deposit redeemers’ behavior seems to have changed. Bottle and can deposit redemption rates fell to just 70.4% in 2024, down 18.3% since 2019. There’s evidence, however, that many of those bottles and cans are still being recycled in people’s curbside bins − people seeing it as just easier and with those dimes not going nearly as far as they did back in 1976.

The state agency that oversees recycling, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, is also primarily focused on making sure the aluminum cans and plastic bottles get recycled and don’t become litter; not necessarily on the deposit returns.

”EGLE supports efforts to make recycling easy and convenient for all Michiganders,” EGLE spokesman Jeff Johnston earlier told the Free Press. “Whether returning containers for deposit or recycling them curbside or at drop-off centers, the benefit is the same: keeping those materials out of landfills and in the recycling stream as part of Michigan’s growing circular economy.”

Michiganders support bottle law

An EPIC-MRA poll of likely Michigan voters in 2026, conducted last November, found that 92% support Michigan’s bottle deposit law. When asked what would encourage them to return more bottles and cans, the top answer given was “faster or easier return process.”

With bottle and can returns waning in recent years, the amount of that unclaimed deposit money is soaring. The amount of escheat was as low as $33.8 million as recently as 2017. It was $116.4 million in 2024. A comprehensive review of Michigan’s beverage container recycling and deposit system conducted by the University of Michigan last year recommended that more escheat money be returned specifically to the deposit program to make it more convenient for redeemers.

Contact Keith Matheny: kmatheny@freepress.com.