The Aldi Vending Machines We Wish Were In The US

Being a good and diligent recycler sometimes feels like something you should be rewarded for, right? Well, Aldi has already made that dream come true — just sadly not in the United States. In Aldi stores in Ireland, the discount chain has reverse vending machines that actually give people store credit in exchange for returning their empty plastic bottles and cans. Say what you what about the reasons people avoid shopping in Aldi, the retailer is ahead of the game with this one. It works exactly like a vending machine in reverse; you feed your recyclables into the machine and get rewarded with a refund voucher you can use at the till — neat! It keeps you eco-friendly and rewards for you for it, one of the many Aldi quirks you just have to appreciate. Meanwhile, shoppers in the U.S. are left to only imagine about how nice it would be to drop off a few soda bottles to Aldi and get rewarded for it.

The program began back in 2022 and has since expanded as part of the store's bid to be more sustainable and reduce single-use plastic. Although, it should be noted that this isn't "free money," as the cost of the bottled drink already includes a small deposit which customers get returned when they bring the bottle back. With the deposit being either €0.15 or €0.25 per bottle, this means shoppers aren't earning extra money, but that they have extra incentive to return their bottles. In Austria, too, customers can return plastic bottles at retailers such as Hofer (Aldi's Austrian name) as part of a government scheme using the same deposit-return model and earn €0.25 per bottle — a solid incentive compared to the alternative of just tossing it away.

Not just limited to Ireland and Austria, there are actually over 50 regions of the world where food and beverage companies are using similar systems to encourage recycling. Even big corporations like Coca-Cola and Nestlé have experimented with these "deposit return" schemes as part of an emerging pattern of blending convenience with sustainability. It makes sense, too, given it's a situation in which everyone wins: consumers get credit and brands get good PR.

And vending machines in general are having a comeback — with restaurant pickup lockers and Japan's many types of food dispensers being amongst the world's coolest vending machines — it's just that this take feels especially smart because it ties in sustainability with savings, which is right in the wheelhouse of brands like Aldi. While there's still no official word on when or if these recycling stations will make their Aldi debut in the United States, hopefully it is only a matter of time — because if Aldi can give American shoppers viral snack dupes, surely it can give us the satisfaction of turning our empties into grocery credit.