[dahfizz]

I live in the US, and all grocery stores I have been to have those reverse vending machines.

I also never bother to return my bottles and cans, because it's still a waste of my time. I put all bottles and cans in the recycling, along with anything else recyclable (on the backend, almost everything goes to a landfill anyway. But that's not my problem.)

Edit: for those asking, I have lived in multiple New England states, and bottle return machines have been common in all of them.

[umvi]

Where in the US? The US is like 50 different mini countries - I've never seen this and I've lived in 6 different states.

[geerlingguy]

I'm in the Midwest, USA, never seen such a reverse vending machine...

[jrochkind1]

I'm guessing the New England states were Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and/or Connecticut? (not new hampshire or rhode island, which don't have deposit laws).

My guess it that these machines are only going to be in states with deposit laws, and it's likely the grocery stores are legally required to take returns (whether by machine or human).

There are 10 states with bottle deposit laws (which mostly predate consumer recycling): California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont.

I suspect a much higher percentage of material actually gets recycled from bottles returned via deposit law mechanisms, compared to US standard "single stream" residential recycling, which are kind of notorious for their low rate of actual recycling (material taken away from homes actually being recycled) due to contamination and expense of separation.

[cgriswald]

I’ve never seen one at a supermarket in California. Even the recycling centers near me don’t have them, although I think some do.

I’ve seen them in Michigan, though.

[longbrass]

In many places while they may be required, their position is relegated to the back or hidden side of the building. I imagine this is because most shoppers do not return their bottles and cans… while some consider those who endeavor to do so “unsightly” or a “traffic hazard.”

[dfxm12]

I've not seen them in the US. Maybe I've seen them on Supermarket Sweep, though https://supermarketsweep.fandom.com/wiki/Recycling_Center :)