Posted on 05/11/2015 2:29:41 PM PDT by SMGFan
It might just be a bunch of bottles and cans, but when you get enough recyclables together it can mean a hefty wad of cash. California authorities say a group involved in an alleged illegal recycling scheme was flush with $14 million in refunds after trucking roughly 250 million cans and bottles from out of state and redeeming them.
A grand jury indicted five California residents on charges including grand theft and recycling fraud in March, reports the Associated Press, but the details of the case were just announced Thursday by California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, or CalRecycle.
(Excerpt) Read more at consumerist.com ...
What’s the scam? Recycling is recycling. RIGHT? OR, is the bottle deposit just a revenue generating scheme? Nah. Not the government. A bottle is a bottle is a bottle.
There’s the problem. In Michigan, the bottles are turned in at the store. Can are inserted into machines one at a time and are counted. The machine spits out a receipt and the cashier turns it into cash.
Maryland talked about instituting a similar per bottle recycling program, albeit at County recycling centers. Our county is huge and I’ sure the recycling place would not be convenient to me. For instance, it’s about a 45 mile round trip to the nearest emission test station.
Upon examination of the amount of pop (they call it soda around here but I just can’t do it) I drink, it would cost money for me to go once a year.
That said, I’m in favor of such a program if it’s run properly. In this bastion of environmental awareness, beer cans and bottles litter the roadways.
I used to buy bottles in New Hampshire and took it to the redemption center in Maine or Vermont... Good way of making money on vacation...
They were thinking *too* green.
Meh, throw one full can of soda into the lot for each bag and you’ll probably draw even. 12oz x .5 oz per can = 24 cans EQUIVALENT x .5c = $1.20.
I’ll bet California pays $14 million a day for illegally obtained welfare bennies as it is....probably 10x that...
Why would Kalifornia be upset? They are the national “leader” on so many of these pain in the neck programs and wish to foist all their ills off on the rest of us. They should be happy that folks are recycling on a large scale...
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