Re: When I was a kid
We have that in Denmark. A six pack of beer costs 36 Kr, with 6 Kr. of that being a deposit for the can. All the supermarkets have an automated machine that scans your returns and prints off a voucher for the returned amount.
At home I collect the bottles and cans and return them. When I'm out and about then people usually just leave them next to a bin where someone will surely collect, often within a few minutes.
1 Kr. = 10p (British pence), so after a decent party there are usual a few quids worth of empties lying around