"Unfortunately empties closed" at Rewe: Why are deposit machines in supermarkets closed?

Created: 08/18/2022, 12:05 p.m

By: Oliver Schmitz

At a Rewe in Cologne, the empties acceptance had to be closed.

(IDZRW montage) © Wassilis Aswestopoulos/Imago & Johann Werning/24RHEIN

Returning the bottle deposit is often one of the more annoying parts of a visit to the supermarket.

All the more annoying when the empties acceptance is suddenly closed.

Cologne – “Unfortunately, empties are closed” – this was rather unpleasant news for customers at a Rewe market in Cologne at the beginning of August.

The reasons given, such as "exhausted capacities" or "lack of subsequent deliveries" caused more questions than answers.

What are the problems at the deposit machine?

And does that happen more often now?

24RHEIN explains.

This leads to a delay in the acceptance of empties

Like many other industries, supermarkets and discounters are also struggling with staff shortages.

This has recently led, among other things, to the closures of supermarket fresh food counters.

Does this also have an impact on the deposit cycle?

The good news: Probably not for now.

The matter of the temporary closure of the empties acceptance of a Rewe branch in Cologne-Ehrenfeld: An "individual case", as a Rewe spokeswoman assured 24RHEIN.

The reasons: On the one hand, the collection of the deposit was delayed and on the other hand, a particularly large number of bottles and cans were returned at the end of the NRW summer holidays.

As a result, according to the Rewe spokeswoman, in this case "storage capacities of the market were exceptionally exhausted".

Kaufland is testing mega machines

Even if deposit machines are open, patience is sometimes required when handing them in.

Bottles and cans currently have to be inserted individually.

Among other things, Kaufland wants to change that, which is testing a deposit machine that swallows up to 100 bottles at a time.