Recycling non-cents

LA Daily ^ | 3/5/04 | Troy Anderson

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Los Angeles County officials accused recycling facilities Thursday of scamming the public out of $15 million a year by shortchanging people who redeem glass, plastic and aluminum containers.

Inspectors visited hundreds of recycling centers throughout the county and found that they were underpaid almost 20 percent of the time -- a disturbing rate that will lead to more inspections.

Weights and Measures Director Cato Fiksdal said the recycling rip-off undermines public confidence in the whole effort to reduce landfill waste.

"People must have trust in the integrity of the weighing process if our recycling efforts are to succeed," he said.

Fiksdal originally estimated the loss at $30 million but reduced his estimate when challenged by state officials. Still, concern about the shortchanging is taking on added importance this year as the values on recyclable bottles and cans increase to 4 cents for containers under 24 ounces and 8 cents for larger containers.

"Picture that water bottle you buy at the store," said Jeff Humphreys, deputy director of the Weights and Measures Bureau. "For just about any plastic, except distilled spirits and wines, you pay an extra 8 cents. ... We're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars the state is collecting from distributors for these products.

"And, of course, the idea is to get all this stuff recycled," Humphreys said. "It's our job to ensure that everyone is being properly compensated for these aluminum cans and plastic bottles."

Last year, Fiksdal's two recycling inspectors conducted 1,100 inspections at the county's 950 recycling centers. Of the 4,000 recycling facilities statewide, about half are located at grocery stores and the other half are stand-alone facilities that recycle multiple materials.

"We typically go in with a small amount of cans that are pre-weighed and in about 20 percent of those inspections we were shortchanged what I would consider a significant amount," Humphreys said. "If we went in with three pounds, the average amount we were shortchanged was somewhere between 50 to 60 cents. It's been our experience that about half the time there is a problem with the scale and about half the time there appears to be a calculation problem."

Californians bought more than 18.2 billion carbonated and noncarbonated drinks in aluminum, glass, plastic and bi-metal containers last year. More than 10.6 billion, or 60 percent, of those containers were recycled, saving natural resources, conserving energy and extending the life of landfills.

From those sales, the state Department of Conservation collected $325 million in California Redemption Value fees.

"We take fraud seriously," said Jim Ferguson, assistant director for recycling at the department. "We have a number of cases in progress and there certainly (have) been convictions.

"One of the things we'd like to point out is, it really is a crime against the environment," he said. "The recycling program is intended to minimize the impacts on the environment and make the world a better place for all of us."

People with complaints about recycling centers can call (562) 940-8941, or submit complaints online at www.acwm.co.la.ca.us.

In a case earlier this year, Fiksdal's department prosecuted a recycling facility in Bellflower. The Bellflower Recycling Center pleaded no contest to one charge of short-weighing and was ordered to pay $2,700 in fines and investigative costs and be under probation for three years.

In a similar case last week, a judge ordered PCH Recycling in Long Beach to pay $5,200 in fines and investigative costs, Humphreys said.

Normally, Humphreys said, inspectors will tell violators to fix problems that lead to shortchanging customers and if they comply they will not face prosecution and fines. But recyclers who repeatedly shortchange customers are referred to the District Attorney's Office for prosecution.

[The Great RJ]

I'm almost certain that some items we're required to recycle end up in a landfill anyway. Old newspapers for example have no local company that reprocesses them and the cost of shipping them elsewhere would be prohibititive for what they are worth. Ditto for glass.

In our area some municipalities have to haul their trash 50 or more miles to a landfill--seems like a big waste of energy and money to me.

[Paleo Conservative]

Too bad burning trash especially paper and recovering its energy content is not considered recycling. Clean incineration using new technologies combined with electrical generation would cut down on the solid wastes that need to go into land fills.