Because consumers use over 1.4 trillion beverage containers every year worldwide, the reverse vending machine’s purpose is to help reduce and recycle this waste. Most unrecycled beverage bottles are scattered across landscapes, landfills, oceans and rivers. To combat this waste, the TomRobots offers incentives for recycling. Due to these incentives, users are likely more motivated to recycle since it not only benefits the environment but themselves as well.


The reverse vending machine is a device that takes empty and used bottles or cans, then returns money or other forms of incentivization to the recycler, depending on the quantity of receptacles recycled. The device could accept bottles made out of different recyclable material.