Promote Iowa Tourism: bring your out of state deposit cans

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by QuadCityImages

In the Quad Cities, Iowa Pepsi cans have a gold top, and Illinois cans have a silver top. One time I brought a case of empty Pepsi cans that I had bought while in Sioux City or someplace out west, and the guy at HyVee gave them quite the close examination, so apparently they do pay attention.

I worked at Hy-Vee during the 1990's before the machines and we always looked closely. Ones made in Iowa always had the stamp on the top, cans/bottles from elsewhere didn't. Not sure if that's the case now, I thought they all had the stamp now, I see it in Chicago where it says "5cents" and "IA".

Back then though we always looked through and I would reject lots of cans/bottles because they were purchased out of state. For the most part now the machines do it or the color of the top.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by joebtsflk1

I've done a bit of research, and from what I can tell it is not illegal in Iowa to redeem deposit marked cans and bottles bought in other states. Bring 'em in! In Colorado deposit containers are everywhere. If I had an RV or a trailer I'd stuff it full of cans and bottles and make a bee line for Des Moines. (Could go to Council Bluffs, but I'd figure there would be fewer questions away from the border. Plus it's been a while since I've been back to DM...)

Some states do try to make this practice illegal, particularly California where deposit containers are property of the state, not the beverage distributor.

With recent court decisions going against deposit law states in requiring unique UPC codes for deposit containers and conceivably prohibiting beverage distributors from selling deposit containers in non-deposit states, it looks like the deck is stacked against the deposit law states.

So, I think that beverage manufacturers officially don't care if you bring your deposit containers purchased in non-deposit law states like CO to deposit law states such as IA.

It's possible that you could pay for a tank or two of gas, depending on how much room you have and your vehicle's mpg. And if you're a trucker faced with going deadhead from CO to IA, if you're pulling an enclosed trailer at least, it would definitely pay for your fuel, time and overhead, at least on paper. You would need an organized effort to collect the cans, so on a practical basis that may not be likely.

This could be an interesting angle to promote Iowa tourism this summer. Bring in your tired cans, your empty bottles yearning to earn a fee....

Good luck, but it'd be a huge hassle. The first thing that happened when they set this up is everyone from out of state tried dropping off their bottles/cans in Iowa to get the deposit they didn't pay. Obviously store owners and distributors knew this as well, they're not dumb.

There are plently of procedures to keep out the bottles/cans purchased in other states. The places that take the most in bulk have machines that will reject items bought out of state. There are also markings on the cans as others pointed out that can pinpoint which ones to reject.

It's the distributors who deal with the cashflow, not the state. The distributors are industry insiders, so would obviously be able to devise ways to restrict the deposit to only items that deserve a deposit. They just alter the cans/bottles they produce and sell in a certain area.


When you buy a can you pay the 5 cents to the store who immediately gives the money to the distributor. When you return the can to the store, the distributor will give the store 6 cents for the returned can. The 5 cents they collected plus a 1 cent handling fee. The distributor makes up for the 1 cent handling fee in the unreturned cans and bottles. It's actually almost a wash. The distributors pay $102 million out, and receive $98 million in the deposits. They also get to sell the recycled material.

So it's the actual can and bottle companies who are in this financially, which is why they'll make it much harder for you to return items you didn't buy.

[lurtsman]

Originally Posted by fezzador

Iowa does have a lot to offer for out-of-state tourists (legalized gay/lesbian weddings, some of the most overrated hunting grounds in the land, and some overrated areas for hiking and boating) but for whatever reason, the state just doesn't promote these features to their potential.

So it's a place for gay weddings, but less easily accessible by plane than any major metropolis that offers cheaper direct flights in for your family. Cool