Yeah they mention the NV->CA switcheroo, and “illegal disposal operators” and the fact that recycling companies have rights to the bins. But they don’t really say what the fines are if you get caught picking at the curbside level, which seems like the obvious place to attach the problem.
I guess I kinda feel like this is at least partly a flaw in the system. I mean, generally, if you have a something that has value then you don’t leave it outside overnight, unsecured at the end of your driveway next to the trash cans. The problem with the trash-picking (I now know) is that the aluminum is supposed to help pay for the rest of the trash disposal. But if that’s the case then maybe the people actually involved in this transaction (the town, it’s residents, and the recycling companies) should take measures to ensure that the trash that has value is passed off properly. Or accept the loss and the fact that someone will have to cover the true cost of recycling other less valuable materials.
When money can be made, people recycle like mad. Like this:
"Each morning he scurries around the apartment blocks, emptying the contents of festering bins into the canvas bag strapped to his back. He looks like a bee storing honey.
He has done this job for 14 hours a day, for 30 years of his life. "
I feel sorry for our “recycling moochers”. They take things from the roll-out bins and dumpsters behind the building, but never once they’re moved to the curb. Because the city owns it at that point and they could get ticketed.
They are so poor I think the city should support them better so they wouldn’t want this stuff.
And often they will find things that can be reused instead of put into the landfill. Nice coats and usable pots and pans.
But I resent when they leave dumpsters open and the animals scatter food around.
It’s just the younger ones who do that, but it grates.
I wouldn’t be so sure about not paying the bottle fees and CRV in Nevada on occasion.
I recently bought a 6 pack of bottled O’Douls at a store in Northern Nevada and was charged a bottle fee. On top of that the bottle fee was taxed- not the purchase just the fee. It took me awhile to figure out how 2 cents was a 7.45% tax on a five dollar purchase.
I went and got the money back from the store. Often when the chain stores are located in California, the coding needs to be corrected for Nevada to not charge the extra fees. In this case they had not corrected it.
The moral of the story is to check your receipt.
On recycling cans, I believe they require a California ID to turn them in, in California. My uncle has two homes one in Nevada and the other in California. I believe he returns smashed cans from both locations in California.
Recycling in Nevada is difficult and in some counties not even available through the trash companies.
Not true, at least in Michigan. Our state government is getting upset that it’s “losing” deposit surpluses from out of staters. As described above, we use nasty, disgusting, filthy machines* that simply scan the UPC code, which is, of course, “universal.”
*Progressive stores have sinks and/or hand sanitizer stations near these disgusting things.
I throw my cans and bottles in the trash. As I’ve said before, I fully authorize anyone from out of state to claim my deposits on my behalf. Just don’t exceed my limit. And since I’m out of the country right now, my limit is 0.
I think the whole bottle deposit as “recycling” concept ought to be shitcanned.
Someone in the state legislature has again introduced a Bill to expand the bottle bill to include most beverages. I call BS on that, it’s a waste of time,resources and it does not address the issue of hit and miss recycling here. Mighigan has a terrible recycling record for glass, tin and paper, I guess it would be better if we slapped a deposit on those too?:smack:
IIRC Detroit doesn’t even have a recycling program, but they do have a big ol incinerator that burns everything. Oh well I’m on the west side, winds blow to the east. :rolleyes:
While I can’t disagree with your sentiment, I will point out that this was originally not a recycling effort per se (it was the 70’s; no one cared), but a beautification/littering effort. Make people take back their cans, and they won’t end up on the roadway. I became rich (in relative terms as a child) by picking up litter and turning it in. The thing is, as I drive through non-deposit states, I don’t notice a change in the amount of roadside garbage. In the end, it’s all about the state’s coffers.
Oh, the 10¢ deposit is a simplification of the original rule. The 2-liter bottles were 20¢, and I can’t recall if, possibly, the 3-liter bottles may have been 30¢ (of course, I’m not even sure if 3-liter bottles still exist).
ElvisL1ves is saying that nondeposit cans (which of course you can’t get in Michigan) have different UPC codes, not that they use different codes for returnable cans in other states.
If you make it easy for people, more will do it. In Grand Rapids, we get free bins where we just toss all our paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, metal, etc. and it is picked up every 2 weeks with the trash. It really cuts down on how much we throw away, and it saves us money since we can use the smallest and cheapest garbage bin instead of the big ones or paying for tags. Plus soon we are supposed to switch to using just one big bin and we won’t even have to separate at all - it is just as easy as throwing stuff in the trash. I admit if I had to pack up recycling and drive it to a center myself I probably wouldn’t do it near as much.
There are charities and school groups that will also take your cans back for deposit if anyone doesn’t want to.
I have never seen anyone going through the recycling in our neighborhood though.
I don’t get it… do you mean deposit versions version non-deposit versions of, say, 12 oz. Coca Cola? It’s the same UPC symbol. In Michigan, it’s a deposit can; out of state, it’s a non-deposit can.
Otherwise, yeah, different products have different UPC codes, because they’re different products. Therefore, bottled water (non-deposit) will have a different bar code than Vernor’s Ginger Ale (deposit).
Okay, the third possibility is I’m completely misunderstanding you!
ElvisL1ves is saying that deposit and non-deposit versions of 12 oz. cans of Coca Cola will have different UPC codes. I’ve only lived in states with deposit laws, so I don’t have personal experience with this, however in post 27 sugar and spice says
In calif all or most beverage containers have a deposit on each.When empty you simply visit a nearby recycle center to reclaim your deposit.Yes, the cans and plastic are visually inspected to be sure they are calif. containers, also id’s and plates are checked ,must be calif.These are the basic rules however the problem developes when out of state cans are collected in large amounts and transported into calif for refunds that were never collected for. You can see that free cans from one state become valuable in the next state. Some of the recyclers pay as much as 2.10 a lb. Do the math ,it works out to thousands of $'s. Here is one way it is done. A person or persons aquire a recycle permit, thats another story,then they network the containers from out of state,sell them at thier recycle center ,now the containers are in theflow stream.Once the containers are crushed and bailed it is impossible to tell the difference. We’re talking about semi truck loads not one trash bag. This is BIG business.It is the responsibility of the recycle center to do what can be done to prevent this crime frome happening but when your extended family and amigos are working together to sell at padres recycle center then the operation can only be discovered from inside or by survellance,which is very time consuming.I can tell you first hand that even when a boot leg operation is discovered Cal Recycle dosen’t do much to stop the theft.Again i’m only touching on the highlights. There are more rules and regs but all the legal crap only applies to the honest recyclers. Thieves dont follow the law.
Or, nowadays, what are the chances they are collecting empty bottles to be filled with this shit?
TL;DR: Meth traffickers are dissolving meth into liquids, transporting it in bottles disguised as beverages, destined for “reconversion” labs where it is re-crystallized, a process apparently even more dangerous than the meth labs where it is initially created.