This idea could fall under both reducing waste and recycling for obvious reasons but i chose to put it here. Currently, drink vending machines do one thing, dispense bottles/cans of product. Why not develop a vending machine that would have the ability to store its own dispersed contents in a bin within the machine either by shredding the plastic or metal or crushing the glass.
I am sure there is enough wasted space in a good sized vending machine to accommodate such a device. A separate slot would be available somewhere on the machine to accept the bottles it has dispensed, therefore making sure it doesn't end up in the waste stream. When the vendor comes to refill the machine the recycle bin would be emptied and so the benefit continues. This would also ensure that the vendor of the product is responsible for its own waste, be it plastic, glass or aluminum. It could also prove to be a new source of revenue for the vendor otherwise literally thrown away. Comments?
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i like the idea of more recycling receptacles in general but the problem i see is that it would be rare for a person to buy a drink at the machine and still be there when they finish it, more likely machines in certain areas would sell few drinks and be filled with too many bottles, making them "out of order" before they would need refilling, while other machines sell many drinks with few bottles being returned, also this migration of bottles between machines means that to be effective, the machines would need to accept not just the type of bottle they dispense, but also all other types, plastic, glass, big, small, whatever, making it improbable that the device would be able to fit into a standard vending machine.
i have thought about the issue of someone having to stay there while they drink it and came to the conclusion that this machine would serve niche markets like office buildings (like where i thought of it as i work in a large office). Chances are during lunch in a large luch room if you buy a drink during lunch you're going to finish it while on the premises. Or school lunch cafeterias. Places such as these have a better chance of benefitting from a machine like this. Know what i mean?
If you've ever seen the inside of a vending machine, you would know that there is no spare space for anything like this. What isn't taken up by the product, its routing, refrigeration (if needed) and money collection, is there to keep the machine from being stolen. Even if you could work out a way to separate the collection from the product, you'd be pulling double duty when you service the machine. I wouldn't want the guy handling the waste to also be handling something I would eventually put in my mouth.
That said, I have seen automated recycling in action. Idea obviously works, but doesn't play well with others.