Originally Posted by
hobo finds
Yep it is crazy, places pay more than the price of aluminum, it in not illegal in AZ to buy or sell these cans at the inflated prices, even though people know they may make it to California for the deposit. I wonder if Oregon is getting an influx of California cans now that they have raised there deposit to $.10 a can...
I can't imagine that they will let that go on for very long. The legislature here in Maine recognized the potential problem of out of state cans coming in a number of years ago and put countermeasures in place.
Closer to home: A part of my job at work deals with the bottle and can redemption division of the company. We don't have exact numbers, but it's believed that we lost ten or 15 k. to fraud in 2017. The worst offenders were rooted out and they're likely looking at some jail time. A couple of employees were fired and rendered homeless in the process. A couple of others are under a cloud of suspicion and will most likely be released from their job in a month or two.
I went in afterward and tied up all of the loose ends where we might be losing money after all the commotion settled. It sucks to have to drop the hammer on someone but the well being of the business has to come first. The jobs of over 60 people depend on the company doing well.
Our operation is just a sideline that was intended as break even community service so we're not that big, but we do have pickup trucks filled with bottles coming in on a regular basis. We even have a couple of guys on bicycles that bring their bottles & cans in so it is doable. They have these big mesh bags that load on like side saddles on the back.
I don't know how the numbers would work out but most plastic bottles and cans here are five cents. Liquor and wine bottles are fifteen cents.
Would there be more money to be made by going legit and passing a bottle bill in AZ ?
It makes a lot of jobs all up and down the supply chain.
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