State of Redemption

Vigilant consumers who make a habit of studying their sales receipts may have recently noticed a few extra pennies tacked on to the prices of their Snapple, Arrowhead or Frappuccino bottles.

It’s not a cashier’s mistake. It’s the California redemption value, or CRV, a refundable deposit that Californians have been paying for years on beer, soft-drink and wine-cooler containers, whether they realized it or not.

Now, because of legislation that took effect Jan. 1, that deposit--redeemable at any certified recycling center--is being collected on nearly all beverage containers, including cans and bottles of water, fruit juice, sports drinks, iced tea and iced coffee.

The idea is to give California consumers an added incentive to recycle and to boost the state’s bottle recycling rate, which has sagged in recent years.

So far, the responses of most consumers have ranged from clueless to indifferent--but industry workers say it’s far too early to gauge the law’s impact.

“It’s slowly beginning to pick up, [but] it really hasn’t hit,” said Al Zorn, coordinator at the Burbank Recycling Center. “We put out mailers and fliers. . . . We’re excited about it, but it’s going to be slow.”

Recycling rules can be so jumbled and esoteric that consumers can lose sight of basic distinctions such as what’s redeemable, what’s simply recyclable and what’s just plain garbage. Policymakers hope that by adding a CRV to nearly all drink containers and thus grouping more beverages in a single category, the new measure will simplify what can be a mystifying process.

Indeed, many consumers have mistakenly assumed that containers that were previously nonredeemable, such as Gatorade bottles, were also non-recyclable. “If people don’t see that CRV label, they think it may not be recyclable and it ends up in the trash,” said Kent Stoddard of Waste Management, California’s largest curbside recycling company.

The fact is, all glass, plastic, aluminum and bimetal drink containers are recyclable. Now, nearly all of them also qualify for paybacks.

Here’s how it works: Consumers pay a nominal deposit at the checkout stand on all CRV drink containers--2 1/2 cents for smaller containers, a nickel for those 24 ounces or larger. They can then cash in their empties at any recycling center for a refund, or donate them to curbside collection programs.

Milk, Wine, Liquor Aren’t Included

But some exceptions to the CRV law remain, most notably containers for milk, wine and liquor. Attempts to gather those beverages under the CRV law have met fierce resistance from industry lobbyists, said Rick Best, policy director at Californians Against Waste, an environmental advocacy group. “They’ve fought our legislation tooth and nail,” Best said. There are other points of confusion as well. Containers for 100% fruit juices are not redeemable if they exceed 46 ounces. But all containers for juices with less than 100% fruit qualify, regardless of size.

Another hitch is that the CRV label may not show up on the newly qualified containers for several months. The Department of Conservation, which administers the new law, has granted manufacturers a grace period to properly label their beverages. (By the end of the year, containers must be labeled “CA Redemption Value” or “CA Cash Refund.”)

Additionally, consumers who rely on curbside recycling may not understand they’re passing up their refunds, which instead end up in city coffers or in the hands of contracted collection companies. “There’s probably some who don’t clue into that,” Stoddard acknowledges. But “the convenience of curbside recycling is just so attractive--most people are just making a decision based on convenience. And what they’re forgoing is indirectly benefiting them, because that money gets plugged into the curbside recycling program and helps keep their rates down.”

A refund that usually amounts to a handful of coins seems unlikely to rouse the masses. Many consumers are unaware of the new, more-inclusive rules, much less the availability of a refund.

Mark Yee, 25, recycles his old newspapers and empty Perrier bottles outside a Vons store in West Los Angeles, but doesn’t bother to collect his refund. He was blase when questioned about the new payback law. “I don’t really care. You get like 5 cents,” said Yee. So why bother recycling his bottles at all? “It’s kind of a waste to throw them out,” he said.

Yee is typical of many environmentally conscious Californians, who recycle simply for the sake of recycling. But for those who want their money back, the new law is an inducement to recycle bottles and cans that previously had no CRV.

For the past year, Beth Sanchez of Foothill Ranch in Orange County has been carting piles of recyclable treasures to the Ralphs store behind her house. Sanchez, 41, is saving all of her redemption money--about $45 a week--for a trip to Europe.

“Last year, I was averaging around $30 each trip,” said Sanchez, who collects cans from neighbors and has convinced several children on her block to contribute any containers they find. “Since [the law] changed, I’m already up like 15 more bucks. I figure I’ll be in Paris this time next year.”

Numbers Suggest Law Is an Encouragement

While Sanchez’s zeal is unusual, the numbers indicate that a deposit law does spawn more recycling. According to Californians Against Waste, the state’s recycling rate for CRV containers (75% in 1998) is more than double the rate for non-CRVs.

Some centers are beginning to see results trickling in. “This is about the slowest time of year anyway, because consumption is down with colder weather . . . but nevertheless we’re seeing more containers coming in,” said John Griffin, a manager for Tomra Recycling Network, which operates sites for several supermarket chains.

“There are a lot of people out there . . . waking up and saying, ‘Wait a minute! I’m paying a redemption value on this and not getting my money back,’ ” Griffin said.

For the most part, though, public awareness remains fuzzy. “It’s going to take time, I think,” said Wendy Hernandez, a redemption consultant at Dalton Recycling Enterprises in Anaheim. “If everybody knew they could bring in coffee bottles and Gatorade bottles and spring-water bottles and all that, these bins would be overflowing, I’m sure.”

Carol Nelson, a deputy chief for the Department of Conservation, said the state is working hard to change that. Her department has earmarked about $10 million of the new deposit money for a public awareness campaign.

The CRV program also does more than simply lure would-be recyclers. If California consumers recycle 75% of CRV containers, that means 25% of their deposit money goes unclaimed. With a projected $420 million in CRV pouring in to the state annually, that amounts to more than $100 million.

Most of that gets pumped back into the recycling industry in the form of state subsidies, including $15 million to support curbside pickup programs. In addition, supermarket redemption centers are eligible to receive as much as $2,300 a month in “handling fees.”

That’s because recycling firms prefer not to operate out of supermarket lots, which are less efficient than high-volume scrap yards. But the state mandates that there be at least one redemption site within a half-mile of every supermarket--a so-called “convenience zone”--to ensure consumer convenience. In return, state subsidies help keep those operations afloat.

The only losers in the CRV expansion are drink makers, who must pony up a projected $19 million a year in processing fees to help offset the costs of recycling. That’s why the industry spent hundreds of thousands of dollars last year lobbying against the bill’s passage.

The processing fees “amount to a tax on the business, and obviously no industry likes to be taxed,” said Chip Kunde, vice president of state affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers of America. According to Kunde, drink makers argued that an expansion of curbside pickup programs would be a more effective way to promote recycling. “We tried to make it a public policy issue,” he said. “I don’t think [the CRV expansion] will have a significant impact on the overall recycling in the grand scheme of things. We’re not talking about a lot of additional waste.” Indeed, beverage containers account for only a small percentage of disposed waste--possibly as little as 2.5%, said Chris Peck, spokesman for the California Integrated Waste Management Board. The vast majority of trash comes from paper products and organic matter like food scraps and yard trimmings.

As a result, the CRV expansion won’t do much to help cities meet the ambitious Integrated Waste Management Act, a 1989 mandate that cities recycle 50% of their trash by the end of 2000.

But Best, of Californians Against Waste, said the new CRV law at least makes drink manufacturers more accountable for their products. “You’re creating the incentive at the front end to [make] products that are easy to recycle,” Best said. “You take a look at all kinds of surveys--the public wildly supports recycling. . . . What we need to see more of is support from the manufacturing sector.”

Like many others, Northridge resident Carlos Villesenda is environmentally conscious but CRV-challenged. He braved rain and wind earlier this week to haul several pounds of aluminum cans to a local Vons redemption center. His other drink containers? They go in the blue recycling bins provided by the city.

When he told he was missing out on some of his refund money, Villesenda, 28, said he would inspect his trash more closely.

Is he bothered by the extra pennies he now pays at the checkout stand?

“Anything to make people more aware of the environment helps,” he said. “I don’t mind the increase.”

*

Times staff writers Jonathon E. Briggs, Bonnie Harris and Ann L. Kim contributed to this story.

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Cash for Containers

Under a state law that went into effect Jan. 1, more types of beverage containers are covered by CRV--California redemption value. That means that a deposit is added at the sales point to certain ready-to-drink beverages packaged in aluminum, glass, plastic or bimetal. Some other containers, such as plastic milk bottles or wine bottles, can be recycled but cannot be redeemed for cash.

In general, containers of less than 24 ounces have a 2.5-cent CRV (or 15 cents per six pack) and those of 24 ounces or more have a 5-cent CRV.

Newly redeemable, 2.5 cents, 5 cents

Beverages: Noncarbonated water and mineral water

Some brand names: Crystal Geyser, Aguafina, Perrier, Arrowhead, Alhambra, Callistoga, Evian

Beverages: Noncarbonated soft drinks and sport drinks

Some brand names: Gatorade, Powerade, Hansen’s Energy Smoothies, Hawaiian Punch drinks, V-8 vegetable juice.

Beverages: Diet and health drinks

Some brand names: Ensure, Slimfast

Beverages: Coffee and tea drinks

Some brand names: Starbuck’s Frappuccino, Genuine Iced Coffee, Nestea iced tea, Snapple iced tea, Mad River iced tea

Beverages: Noncarbonated fruit drinks

Some brand names: Arizona Orangeade, Fruitopia juice drinks, Gerber juices, Kern’s nectars, Knudsen’s Vitajuice, Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider, Minute Maid orange juice, Ocean Spray juices, Odwalla juices, Snapple fruit drinks, Sunny Delight drinks, V-8 Splash, Welch’s grape juice

Previously --and still-- redeemable for cash, 2.5 cents, 5 cents

Beverages: Carbonated soft drinks

Some brand names: 7-up, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Shasta, Sprite

Beverages: Carbonated mineral and soda water

Some brand names: Arrowhead sparkling water, Crystal Geyser mineral water, San Pellegrino, Schweppes sparkling water

Beverages: Beer and malt beverages

Some brand names: Budweiser, Coors, Corona, Guinness, Heineken, Miller, Pete’s, Samuel Adams, Sapporo, Zima

Beverages: Wine coolers and distilled spirit coolers

Some brand names: Bacardi Breezers, Bartles & James coolers, Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails, Seagram Peach Daiquiris

Not redeemable

Beverages: Milk

Some brand names: Whole milk, enriched milk, skim milk, low-fat milk, half and half, buttermilk, chocolate milk

Beverages: Distilled spirits

Some brand names: Whiskey, vodka, gin, rum

Beverages: Wine

Some brand names: Sparkling wine and wine from which alcohol has been removed, red and white wine, champagne, port, sherry

Beverages: Infant formula

Some brand names: Similac, Enfamil Lacto-Free, Isomil Soy Formula

Beverages: Medical food

Some brand names: Pediatric Electrolyte Solution, Colloidal Multi-Minerals, Ensure’s Glucema OS, Bird Life

Beverages: 100% fruit juice in containers 46 ounces or larger

Beverages: Containers not made of aluminum, glass, plastic or bimetal

Beverages:

Multi-material pouches, such as some fruit drink containers

Beverages: Large refillable containers

Beverages: Containers for products that are not in liquid or ready-to-drink form or are not intended for human consumption

There are approximately 2,100 certified recycling centers in California. Some supermarkets provide redemption information sheets. For more information call (800) RECYCLE or visit: https://www.consrv.ca.gov. Or call the California Integrated Waste Management Board at (916) 255-2200 or see its site at: https://www.ciwmb.ca.gov.

Source: California Department of Conservation