Area of many
grocery stores and
party stores in states that have a
bottle deposit law. The
bottle return is an area where such deposit-laced
beverage containers are taken to reclaim their respective money. Some more modern bottle returns are
automated, while some remain manually operated, with people
counting and checking each
container as they come by.
The primary duty of the bottle return, automatic or not, is to make sure the containers are counted accurately and that containers without deposit on them are rejected. This also includes sorting out said containers if needed for collection.
The bottle return area itself is the physical manifestation of hell on earth. A sticky, slimy, smelly combination of spilled beer, pop, and unidentified fluids cover every square inch of the area. And that's just the area itself; the job is worse. Imagine explaining the bottle deposit law to every customer that has a problem, as well as counting out hundreds of crushed cans manually, and you've only started the day.
Don't ever work in the bottle return.