What are UCB's?And what are "reverse vending machines"?

Question

In the book, "Bratfest at Tiffiney's, A Clique Novel" by Lisi Harrison, there is a paragraph that talks about a "reverse vending machine" that whenever you put your trash in, Keira Knightly tells how many UCB's you collected. I know the UCB's have something to do with the eviroment because The New Pretty Comitee are in an eco- friendly lunch room. Well, I know the "reverse vending machine" part is confusing, but if you could answer that would be great! Thanks for taking the time to read my question!

Answer 1

A reverse vending machine is a device that accepts used (empty) beverage containers and returns money to the user (the reverse of the typical vending cycle). The machines are popular in places that have mandatory recycling laws or container deposit legislation.

Using a Reverse Vending Machine

The recycler simply, places the empty bottle/can , into the receiving aperture; the recycler is guided through this process by the on screen help on the monitor, and by instructions illustrated on the machine.

The horizontal in-feed system allows the user to insert containers quickly and easily .

The bottle/can is then automatically rotated; the bottle/can is then scanned by a OnmiDirectional UPC Scanner, which scans the beverage container’s UPC code.

Once a container is scanned, identified (matched to database) and determined to be a participating container, it is processed and typically crushed to reduce its size to avoid spillages of liquid and to increase storage capacity. We can use material recognition instead/as well as bar code scanner when needed. More >>>

In some places, bottlers paid funds into a centralized pool to be dispersed to people who recycled the containers. Any excess funds were to be used for general environmental cleanup.

In other places, such as Norway, the state mandated that a vendor pay for recycled bottles, but left the system in the hands of private industry.

UCB's Uncollected Botttles.