Chances are you haven’t noticed it yet: the first one has only just been installed in a shop in Glasgow. But keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks and months because the machines will be appearing in other shops and supermarkets soon and the hope is they’re going to make our lives a little bit better. They are also, I’m afraid, a reminder of how bad our government is.

The name of the machine is the rather awkward TrovrQUBE and it looks a bit like a washing machine with a telly plonked on top. On the front is a circular gap reminiscent of an MRA scanner and down the side are the instructions: press button and wait for green light, scan barcode and place container in tunnel, wait for machine to accept or reject, press button to finish and collect receipt. Sounds simple enough.

I recall seeing similar machines when I was in Copenhagen recently. The name of their system is the even more awkward Pant, but the aim is the same: you take your bottles and cans along, you deposit them in the machine for recycling, and you get a voucher for a refund. It’s one of the most successful recycling schemes of its type in the world, achieving bottle and can recycling rates of 93%. The German scheme – because stereotypes are sometimes true – is even more efficient, achieving rates of 98%.

Now let’s compare and contrast with the UK shall we, if you can bear it. We’ve been told the British bottle deposit scheme will launch in October next year, which is why the first TrovrQUBE has appeared in the Go Local convenience store on Dumbarton Road. The makers of the machines, Trovr, say it’s a chance for retailers to get ahead of the game, prepare early and help customers to become familiar with the system before it’s officially introduced.

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