It’s time to wave goodbye to awkward receipts. Soon, you’ll be able to deposit your bottles at five of the largest NS stations in the country, and get paid back via Tikkie!
Before the end of the year, five of the largest NS stations will offer bottle deposit machines, namely Utrecht, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Eindhoven.
Rather than giving you receipts to collect your cash like in supermarkets, you’ll receive the amount directly onto your account by using Tikkie. If you prefer, you can also donate the money to The Plastic Soup Foundation.
A what??
Tikkie is an online system that allows you to send people payment requests via WhatsApp. If someone owes you money, you enter the amount into the Tikkie app and share it with your debtor.
A bit of monetary motivation
Before the bottle deposit machines were introduced, tens of millions of bottles wound-up in the trash at train stations every year.
Many people often buy bottled beverages at train stations and end up throwing them away rather than depositing them for cash because it’s just more convenient that way — especially if you’re running for the train.
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“There is a €0.15 deposit on every small bottle, yet people still throw them away easily. It is a hassle to take it with you on a trip and eventually hand it in at the supermarket or another point of sale”, a spokesperson for NS tells NU.nl.
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Hence this new initiative! In time, the idea is to have collection points for both bottles and cans at 50 train stations across the Netherlands.
What do you think about NS stations using Tikkie? Tell us in the comments below! 👇
