Aluminum Can Recycling/Rebate

[boonelsewhere]

haha, i heard that those stuff is bad for old eyes, and i think they prefered a gallon jug.

Originally Posted by Acadianlion

If you load them into the back of your truck and take a little ride west, I think there are places out there in the woods where they will refill those with some special, locally brewed beverages.....and they don't charge a deposit on the containers that way, either.

[elston]

Our church collects cans and bottles once a month and "redeems" them (sort of appropriate for a church...redemption)....it is an extra source of income in these tight times.

My son saves up all their beer bottles in the garage and when it gets pretty full.....they advertise them on Craigs list for free......he says the people who come to get them are usually non profit fund raisers......to buy band uniforms or pay for a school trip to Europe etc.

So the bottle bill is good for the enviornment and good for non profits.

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by Acadianlion

The bottler has collected the depost from the retailer who sold the can and its contents to you, and you paid the five cent deposit (15 cents for liquor) at time of sale. The deposit is returned to you when you turn the bottle in to the redemption center. A bottle from Minnesota would be illegal to return to Maine, because the deposit was not paid in Maine, to a Maine bottler or retailer.

I owned and operated a redemption center for a couple of years here in Maine. I used Tomra "reverse vending" machines like the large grocery stores have, and the machines would read the bar code on the can or bottle, and print a report that the Tomra Corporation used to get the deposit back from each bottler.

Maine has the most successful redemption program in the Nation, and the numbers of bottles returned is substantial. The redemption center earns three cents for every 5cent bottle or can returned, and I think it is 8 cents for every liquor bottle returned. This means that the redemption center is "buying" the cans and bottles and in terms of percentage, is receiving a very substantial return on that investment. The law is that the bottling company must return the deposit to the redemption center within two weeks. In theory it is can be a very good business if the numbers are large enough.

During the winter from time to time, I walk along some of the rural roads in town and over a mile or so will often pick up a dollar or two in redeemable cans and bottles. Why people pitch bottles and cans out of the car along the roadside is a mystery to me. But I'll take their money and get some exercise at the same time.

In Blue Hill, there is a small stand that we place our returnables in. The procedes go to The Ark animal shelter.

[Chandler85]

Okay thanks all! In my household we'd probably get like 5 bucks a week from that program!