Hacker News Reader

Tbf there are still examples of this in the EU. At least here in the Netherlands, if you purchase any drinks in recyclable bottles, you pay a surcharge at the register which can then be reimbursed when you bring the bottle back. It's not a large discrepancy (25¢ I think?) but it bit me once when I first arrived and I was paying for everything with cash. I had enough money for everything except the bottle surcharge.

View on HN

You get the money back, so it's a deposit, not a surcharge.

But I still have to pay for it upfront. And if I'm out and about in the city and stop into AH to buy a drink to carry with me, then I either need to carry the bottle with me the rest of the day or throw it away and lose my "deposit".

The point is that it's not included on the label as the price I pay at the register.

Right, it's still a deposit, and not a surcharge. The whole point is that you don't throw it away. That's exactly what makes a 'surcharge' into a 'deposit'.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com