Who is "Statie Fles" & Why is She Stealing My Beer Money?

"A La Trappe Quadrupel for €1.29!  A Chimay Blue for €1.47!  HOT DAM, I LOVE THE NETHERLANDS.  Wait, hold up, what's this extra €0,10 all about on my reciept? And what/who the hell is 'Statie Fles'?  Sounds like the name one of those flapper actresses from the roaring 20s." 

The above "blog-amatization" was my reaction upon one of my first beer runs at the Albert Heijn grocery store in Oss, The Netherlands.  But I bet your first reaction was, "Who the hell ever looks at their receipt after a beer run?"  Well my friends DannyZ does; he's all about value.

I highlighted to draw your attention to the prices

Like everything initially in the Netherlands, this €0,10 charge confused me. I later learned it's a type of surcharge or tax placed on your glass and or plastic bottle purchases.  However, don't try it with wine bottles; only works with beer bottles and plastic soda/juice bottles.  I was ticked at first about the surcharge; another nickel and dime scheme. However, I soon discovered these magical machines (below) that give you your money back, well, sort of.

Look for these machines; these were near the FREE coffee machine.

One Friday night, after amounting a fine collection of empty brews, my wife and I set out on a hot date to so some recycling down at the AH.  Here's the video:

Your prize for caring about the environment.

I learned that once you get the slip (pictured above) all you have to do is hand it to the cashier at check out and the money comes off your purchase. This particular day I was €0,65 closer to another delicious La Trappe Quadrupel.

Hats off to the Dutch for their recycling methods...I wonder if Wegmans will ever adopt this practice?

Nederlanders, do you carry all your bottles back to the AH?  Westerners, would you?