Charging for carrier bags!

[norrahe]

Yes, with tables to do it on.. Very convenient. My nearest supermarket also has a coffee grinder there too, so you can grind your freshly bought beans.



Refundable deposits were made compulsory in Germany in the early 70s, just when the UK was dropping the idea and moving to tins or throwaway bottles. Germany had the right idea in my opinion. When I was in Holland we always had a few crates in, just in case guests called.

Don't think they do the refundable deposit on the crates any more, but you can put the bottles in an in-store bottle bank and you get money back on branded beer bottles.

[Sysman]

Don't think they do the refundable deposit on the crates any more, but you can put the bottles in an in-store bottle bank and you get money back on branded beer bottles.

Well, it was a long time ago since I was in Holland If I remember correctly the deposit for the crate plus bottles cost more than the beer it contained. The worst I came across was in Africa where they wouldn't let you have a crate unless you brought an old crate full of bottles back. There was no way around this, as the trucks delivering to shops insisted on the same practice. Had to scrounge those from someone we knew before we could buy any.

They've got those money back bottle banks here in the Land of Chocolate too, but I don't often buy anything that uses those. When I first came here there was a separate counter as you walked in for deposit refunds. It must have cost a fortune to staff. Most soft drinks come in PET bottles nowadays, and shops have a bin where you can fling those.

[darmstadt]

Don't think they do the refundable deposit on the crates any more, but you can put the bottles in an in-store bottle bank and you get money back on branded beer bottles.

Germany definitely does. I go each week to one of the numerous Getränkemarkts and stock up on crates of beverages ranging from beer via wine through to soft drinks, bloody excellent idea (I also have a bi-weekly delivery service as well.) A crate of beer costs, I dunno, around €16,00 for 24 half litre bottles and when I take the crate back I get €6 back.