From Michael Brady, Palamedes Press
Inventor Terence Parkin is more than four years late with his patented system
of vending machine change going to charity instead of being returned
(23 June, p 23).
That fund-raising concept has been operational since 1997 in Norway and other
countries, in reverse vending machines that refund the deposit on returnable
bottles and beverage cans. The fund-raising reverse vending machines are fitted
with two acceptance buttons to press after you have inserted your last empty
container, one green and one yellow. If you press the green button, the machine
issues a refund voucher that your can redeem at the checkout. If you press the
yellow button, the total due is donated to the charity specified on the front of
the machine.
The machine keeps an account of the money donated and then can send totals to
a central accounting and management system that can generate reports on how much
each machine has collected. The machines are made by the Norwegian company Tomra
(www.tomra.no).
Oslo
