The state I grew up in (Australia) was the only one that gave a return on cans/plastic bottles (5c at the time) and a guy I knew was collecting them in other states for recycling and shipping them in, clearing 200K+ a year. - back in the 80s.

In Finland, the cost of return is factored into the cost of the drink and there is close to a 95% return rate on all cans and bottles.