It’s the end of an era…kind of. In what marks just another nail in the coffin of traditional cash, major Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn has announced that it is waving goodbye to its current coin system for shopping trolleys. 

AH to ditch trolley muntjes in 1.000 stores across the Netherlands

During the coronavirus pandemic, the supermarket temporarily ditched the system whereby shoppers needed to insert a (plastic) coin into the trolleys in order to use them. While the system had been introduced in the 1980s in order to limit the number of shopping carts that went missing, the supermarket has realised that in reality, it doesn’t make much of a difference. 

"During the pandemic, we saw that it actually went well without coins," a spokesperson told NU. "No more or fewer carts disappeared." Furthermore, Albert Heijn thinks eliminating will lead to less frustration amongst shoppers and reduce plastic waste. The decision will affect around 1.000 stores across the Netherlands.