Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CEO Issue
    • Diversity
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2022 winners
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • BRICS and Plastics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
March 01, 2019 01:00 AM

Watchdog urges changes to California deposit program

Jim Johnson
Staff Writer
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    Consumer Watchdog/Vimeo
    Jamie Court, right, and Liza Tucker, center, present Consumer Watchdog's report on California's bottle deposit system.

    Consumers are getting the shaft through California's container deposit program that fails to return hundreds of millions of dollars to their pockets each year, one advocacy group claims.

    Consumer Watchdog believes $308 million is lost by California residents due to deposits they pay but do not redeem each year.

    The deposit program also is leaking money that ultimately should be in consumer hands due to fraud as well as circumstances that dissuade people from claiming their money, the group believes.

    Central to the problem, said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, is an inadequate public redemption center system that has seen significant cuts in locations in recent years as operators said they were not profitable. But that's not the only factor.

    Typical plastic, metal and glass containers all are subject to California's 5-cent deposit law. Residents only receive about 2.65 cents of that money back on average, according to the report.

    And for a group that calls itself Consumer Watchdog, that's untenable.

    Consumer Watchdog based its research in large part on data from the Container Recycling Institute as well as CalRecycle, a state agency in charge of the program.

    "Californians plunk down a nickel for their cans every time they buy them. … But increasingly, they are only getting half that nickel back on average," Court said.

    "The reason is others are turning in those empties for them. They are forced to throw the empties in curbside recycling. The trash haulers are getting paid for the empties. The bulk collectors — they call them gleaners — get paid for the empties. And consumers are basically forfeiting their money," he said.

    Consumer Watchdog is recommending an increase in container deposits to 10 cents to drive consumer behavior toward redemption. The group cited both Oregon and Michigan, each with 10-cent deposits, as having redemption rates exceeding 90 percent. California's recycling rate was 75 percent in 2017.

    While consumers are forfeiting about half of their deposits, others are benefiting.

    Waste and recycling haulers annually receive about $126 million in containers collected through curbside recycling programs rather than returned to recycling centers. And gleaners, called bulk collectors by Consumer Watchdog, earn another $92 million per year through containers they can find, the group said.

    These gleaners can spend their days on the streets looking for empties, amassing them in large plastic bags that they then cash in at redemption centers. Containers for beverages consumed away from home and then discarded are a prime source for these gleaners.

    But the consumer advocacy group would like to see more money come back to those who originally paid for the deposits.

    "This report is an urgent cry for Gov. [Gavin] Newsom and the legislators to fix the recycling system in California. There are 10 states with bottle deposit laws, and California is a cellar dweller," he said.

    Californians pay 5 cents on containers up to 24 ounces and 10 cents for 24 ounces and larger.

    Beverage wholesalers and retailers also are skimming money off the program by underreporting the number of beverages they sell to consumers. This allows them to keep the deposit money for themselves, Court alleged. His group put that alleged fraud at $206 million annually.

    Hundreds of redemption centers have closed in recent years, including more than 100 in Los Angeles County alone, said Liza Tucker, author of the report called "Half A Nickel: How Consumers Get Ripped Off On Every Bottle Deposit They Pay."

    Along with many closures in densely populated areas, she said, less populated areas also have been impacted. This forces consumers to travel longer distances to get their deposit money back.

    Tuolumne County, for example, had only one redemption center in 2017, down from three in 2012, for a population of about 55,000, the report indicates.

    About 40 percent of the state's redemption centers have closed during the past five years because they are not receiving enough reimbursement from the state to operate profitably, Court said.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Plastics adapt to a rapidly changing auto market
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    One-third of ExxonMobil shareholders back study on virgin plastics risks
    2
    Changes at the top look promising for Plastics Industry Association
    3
    Ford to use 20% recycled, renewable plastics by 2025
    4
    Rehau selling Russian operations as Ukraine invasion continues
    5
    Stellantis replaces North American purchasing chief amid supplier relations woes
    SIGN UP FOR TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS AND ENEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Diversity
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2022 winners
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • BRICS and Plastics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
        • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified