Cashing in recyclables deposits in Maine (Portland, Milo: purchase, moving, deposit)

[Sminthian]

I'm moving up to Portland in a few days and I'm going to be travelling between Maine and Pennsylvania a couple of times a year. I've always seen on the back of soda cans that Maine has a 5c cash-in deposit. Could I grab a few thousand soda cans from PA and bring them up to ME with me when I travel back and forth? Has anyone tried cashing in a bunch of cans at a time? I don't know, we don't get any money back in PA, so I don't really know how it works.

[elston]

You are really not supposed to do that. I don't know the laws.....but I am pretty sure that ends up short changing Maine residents who are paying out for that redemption when the Maine coffirs didn't take in the 15 cent deposit.

I did know someone who did that from NH to Maine.....but it isnt right and may be illegal.

I sounds like Kramer and Neuman driving what ever it was that they had in the postal vehicle, to Ohio to get rich.

[Maine Writer]

You can't. Most recyclers will catch you and refuse the cans. We pay a deposit on the container when we purchase the drink. We get the deposit back when we turn the container in.

[K-Luv]

It's illegal.

The bar code is scanned, and if there is no bar code, then the number from the bottle or can is entered into a computer. I think that the bar code just tells what kind of material it is and the size of the container as I have recycled a few things from out of state.

It takes a long time to recycle around here. You have to do it one can at a time. Also, the cans cannot be crushed.

[lovemaine]

Originally Posted by elston

You are really not supposed to do that. I don't know the laws.....but I am pretty sure that ends up short changing Maine residents who are paying out for that redemption when the Maine coffirs didn't take in the 15 cent deposit.

I did know someone who did that from NH to Maine.....but it isnt right and may be illegal.

I sounds like Kramer and Neuman driving what ever it was that they had in the postal vehicle, to Ohio to get rich.

That's one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes!

[starwalker]

actually I have never had them scanned nor minutely examined! I take mine to the redemption center here in Milo... they sort by wholesaler I guess...

I did turn in a couple from away, we had them with us when we moved -- what else was I to do with them, there is NO RECYCLING for #1 here that I have found anyway... I am getting a small collection in the back of my pickup.

But yeah, to haul them in from out of state specially to make $$ is wrong. The couple of cents I got I do not feel bad about. I would have turned them in, as I do all my recycles, just because it's right. They can keep the deposit, in my mind.

[moughie]

Originally Posted by Sminthian

I'm moving up to Portland in a few days and I'm going to be travelling between Maine and Pennsylvania a couple of times a year. I've always seen on the back of soda cans that Maine has a 5c cash-in deposit. Could I grab a few thousand soda cans from PA and bring them up to ME with me when I travel back and forth? Has anyone tried cashing in a bunch of cans at a time? I don't know, we don't get any money back in PA, so I don't really know how it works.

Wouldn't try it- not ethical nor legal.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by moughie

Wouldn't try it- not ethical nor legal.

How ethical it is depends. When you purchase a beverage you are charged the redemption fee, then you get that fee back when you turn in your cans and bottles. I am not sure where that 5 or 15 cents goes if you throw away your cans and bottles instead of turning them in. All the stuff that is collected is then sold to a processing plant (usually in India) and the state (if curbside) or the redemption center collects on that money (from selling your stuff to India or where ever).

[elston]

The issue is that NH and other states don't charge the deposit, however their cans and bottles carry the redemption code and message. To bring those bottles into Maine to claim a redemption is unethical and dishonest.....no depost was paid on those bottles! If Maine gives a refund, it is refunding money that was never paid. That has to come from somewhere.

The whole idea of the deposit is to keep Maine litter free, to stop cans and bottles from littering roadsides and public places and filling in landfills....it becomes worthwhile to re-cycle them. To redeem out of state cans really circumvents the ethics on which the system is based.

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by elston

The issue is that NH and other states don't charge the deposit, however their cans and bottles carry the redemption code and message. To bring those bottles into Maine to claim a redemption is unethical and dishonest.....no depost was paid on those bottles! If Maine gives a refund, it is refunding money that was never paid. That has to come from somewhere.

The whole idea of the deposit is to keep Maine litter free, to stop cans and bottles from littering roadsides and public places and filling in landfills....it becomes worthwhile to re-cycle them. To redeem out of state cans really circumvents the ethics on which the system is based.

True, but as there are more than just Maine-bought containers IN the state, made out of #1 plastic, shouldn't there be a way to recycle those? There is not.. which is the ONLY reason I took my half dozen non-Maine bottles along with the dozen or so Maine ones, to the redemption center.