Something similar was already done in Soviet Union with glass containers (standard for obvious reasons) - instead of being recycled the usual way, they were was

Something similar was already done in Soviet Union with glass containers (standard for obvious reasons) - instead of being recycled the usual way, they were washed and reused, so you could return them for a non-trivial fee[1]. I wonder if the only reason it doesn't work in the US for big companies like Coca Cola that have existing distribution network that could be used to e.g. collect intact standard bottles for a discount, is it's just not worth it, cause everyone is too rich to bother returning the bottles. Or maybe the US is more efficient so it's not worth it economically to bother collecting, transporting and cleaning them (or maybe it wasn't even economical in the USSR, I dunno). [1] the joke is, the first derivative of a drinking session is another drinking session you can have with alcohol purchased with bottle return fees from the initial one; and a really good party must have a non-zero 2nd derivative.