Recycling beverage containers - using an Olyns recycling vending machine

[y_p_w]

I remember way back there used to be enough local recycling providers. Typically a container in the back of a supermarket where I'd typically find a scale and they'd weigh cans and plastic bottles unless someone insisted on counting them by hand. There are some small cans (7.5 oz) where I pay the same redemption value as a 12 oz or larger can. I remember getting a voucher, which could be used directly to make purchases at the store or could be cashed out at customer service. I also remember these machines from the 90s that would take whole aluminum cans and then crush them. But they had to be relatively intact in order for it to work, and at the time it was 5 cents for every two cans, where it actually spit out a nickel for every can. I'd bring a bunch of cans and come out with a pocket full of nickels.

A lot of people these days just toss everything in municipal recycling, and the local government cashes it out. There are still some places that do recycling, but they tend to be unpleasant places where there are most people people bringing in cans in shopping carts filled with plastic bags. No wonder few people cash in their recyclables.

Recently I noticed someone talking about one of these machines. I think he was an employee at the supermarket. Said it paid to a personal account. Maybe PayPal? But it's mobile app based where I guess the customer needs to sign up and then check in. Thinking of seeing how this works. But it has a slot and somehow identifies the type of container. These might have been around for a while, but to me they might have looked more like an advertising sign than anything else.

https://www.olyns.com

One of the comments here complains about a 50 container limit per visit. I guess that's to prevent it from being used by scavengers who might monopolize use of the machine.

 

[tbm5690]

Pretty sure my city "recycles" everything in the landfill.

 

[fat biker]

I am an Arrowhead Water Snob.
When I finish a bottle, I crush it, put the cap back on, then they go into a 45 gallon garbage bag.
I consume quite a bit and I am cheap so off to the local recycling center I go, periodically.

 

[goblin]

No Costcos around ?

 

[y_p_w]

No Costcos around ?

I don't know of any Costcos that pay for recyclables.

 

[y_p_w]

OK - collected a few cans (plus a couple of plastic bottles) to just give it a try. I also checked the app before I left to see if the machine was full. Had plenty of room for cans and plastic, but was 100% full for glass.

There were a few issues. It wasn't that hard, just select the "card" (in my case in Apple Wallet) and place it near the machine. But it took several tries before anything happened. I tried it flat against the reader. The flat with screen forward. But then I tilted it forward and it showed my name on the little screen and had a 10 minute countdown timer to complete the session. I don't have a whole lot of experience with NFC, so there's that.

But then I inserted my bottles and cans. Didn't seem to care how they were inserted, including crooked, either direction, etc. But there was a light around the opening that was red when it was still processing and green when ready for the next container. It had a little conveyor belt that sucked the container inside and I believe will then crush and sort it into a particular bin inside. It kept a running total of the number of containers, but not the value. The value can vary depending on the size of the container, and it looked like it could take up to a 2 liter bottle.

The one thing I couldn't figure out at first was how to end the session. Tried touching the little screen and nothing happened. Didn't check the app if maybe there was something there. Figured maybe I could try placing my device with the "card" near the machine and it beeped and I saw the timer down to 10 seconds where it then timed out to complete the session. Immediately looked at the app and it showed a total cash amount.

Just tried cashing out and it showed up on my associated PayPal account immediately. Worked pretty well. Not sure if I'd make another trip for this, but it was just something I wanted to try. Might make more sense in the future if I'm already there at one of the locations.

 

[Nessism1]

The places that pay by weight return about 1/2 of your original CVR value paid ($.05/container in California)

There are some of those machines by me, but there is always a LONG line in front of them, and the machines often break down. They pay full value though. And the place by me, doesn't limit how many.

Some places will pay full $.05, but only for 50 containers. A whole $2.50. It's not worth driving to the place and waiting in line for that.

Bottom line, if you are in California, you are getting ripped off by the government, yet again, this time relative to the CRV. It's a money grab.

 

[fdcg27]

Who else remembers an AZ family who made more than $7 million by collecting containers in AZ, which has no bottle bill and then transporting them to nearby CA and cashing them out?
Wouldn't be hard to do. Just set up a faux recycling site and offer a penny per container. This would exceed the value of even aluminum cans and ordinary folks as well as street people would flock to your site.
Seven million dollars at five cents a pop would be 140,000,000 empty containers, but certainly and apparently feasible. Even if your net after transport costs was only half, 280,000,000 empties would apparently be worth dealing with and transporting.
Nice little bit of arbitrage.

 

[y_p_w]

The places that pay by weight return about 1/2 of your original CVR value paid ($.05/container in California)

There are some of those machines by me, but there is always a LONG line in front of them, and the machines often break down. They pay full value though. And the place by me, doesn't limit how many.

Some places will pay full $.05, but only for 50 containers. A whole $2.50. It's not worth driving to the place and waiting in line for that.

Bottom line, if you are in California, you are getting ripped off by the government, yet again, this time relative to the CRV. It's a money grab.

Most people don't even bother and just toss bottles and cans in public recycling bins or home collection. But yeah the legal requirement is that anyone can request an actual count of up to 50 of each type. I don't know how these machines fit in since they're restricted to 50 total per account per day.

https://calrecycle.ca.gov/bevcontainer/consumers/​

Customers may request to be paid per container for up to 50 California Refund Value (CRV) beverage containers of each material type per transaction.​

These machines also hold very little glass (I'm reading 50 total capacity compared to about 1000 plastic bottles and 850 aluminum cans), so it was no wonder it was full. Obviously they're not going to crush glass. I look at a city recycling center and I don't know how they redeem glass since a lot of it is broken when tossed into the bins and often mixed with stuff like wine bottles.

 

[Nessism1]

Most people don't even bother and just toss bottles and cans in public recycling bins or home collection. But yeah the legal requirement is that anyone can request an actual count of up to 50 of each type. I don't know how these machines fit in since they're restricted to 50 total per account per day.

https://calrecycle.ca.gov/bevcontainer/consumers/​

Customers may request to be paid per container for up to 50 California Refund Value (CRV) beverage containers of each material type per transaction.​

These machines also hold very little glass (I'm reading 50 total capacity compared to about 1000 plastic bottles and 850 aluminum cans), so it was no wonder it was full. Obviously they're not going to crush glass. I look at a city recycling center and I don't know how they redeem glass since a lot of it is broken when tossed into the bins and often mixed with stuff like wine bottles.

I just checked google, and the place by me, that had the machines, removed them. Now, they only pay by weight (or maybe full value on 50 pieces). Big rip off. If I was rich, I'd sue California, for charging CRV, but making it almost impossible to get your money back.

 

[y_p_w]

I just checked google, and the place by me, that had the machines, removed them. Now, they only pay by weight (or maybe full value on 50 pieces). Big rip off. If I was rich, I'd sue California, for charging CRV, but making it almost impossible to get your money back.

It does feel odd lining up with scavengers (often homeless) just to get a few bucks back.

Then there's the joke about collecting lots of cans/bottles and bringing them to other states where the deposit is higher. Obviously the labels are the same where they don't specifically identify the origin.

Wasn't hauling a load of recyclables from NY to Michigan a subject of a Seinfeld episode? Yeah - apparently including use of spare space in a mail truck driven by Newman so they didn't have to pay for the transportation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bottle_Deposit

I heard they set a limit on the number of bottles/cans accepted in Michigan without proof of residence there.

 

[y_p_w]

Who else remembers an AZ family who made more than $7 million by collecting containers in AZ, which has no bottle bill and then transporting them to nearby CA and cashing them out?
Wouldn't be hard to do. Just set up a faux recycling site and offer a penny per container. This would exceed the value of even aluminum cans and ordinary folks as well as street people would flock to your site.
Seven million dollars at five cents a pop would be 140,000,000 empty containers, but certainly and apparently feasible. Even if your net after transport costs was only half, 280,000,000 empties would apparently be worth dealing with and transporting.
Nice little bit of arbitrage.

I would have thought that they wouldn't print the label with the deposit/redemption information. How hard would it be to exclude that?

But yeah. A lot of places just sell it for the scrap value to out of state recyclers. And these businesses suspect they're taking them for the redemption value rather than selling it as metal/plastic scrap.

​

https://www.kjzz.org/2014-05-08/content-28999-beer-can-arizona-leaves-state-be-recycled​

Workers at C’s Recycling in Phoenix unload wire bins of empty aluminum cans, sort them at a table and then toss the load into a hopper. Owner Cesar Castenada said he got those cans from local collectors looking for a little extra money. After the aluminum goes through the hopper, his workers load 60-pound bags onto semi-trucks. “And we sell them in California,” said Castaneda.​

​

He sells about 5,000 pounds of aluminum a week to private recycling yards out-of-state. "We, as a scrap yard, sell to another scrap yard," He explained. "We don’t know what they do with their cans. But obviously they sell that as CRV.”​

********​

This is a big problem for California. Gordon estimated the state pays out nearly $40 million each year for cans that were recycled in California but never purchased there. The California Department of Justice arrested 54 people for recycling fraud in 2012 and 2013. Gordon is sponsoring a bill that would lower the amount of cans a person can recycle at one time. It would also allow the state’s recycling program to suspend or shut down companies illegally buying out-of-state aluminum.​

 

[Nessism1]

California collets millions of dollars more than they pay out each year. It's a cash cow for the state. Illegal importing of cans is small potatoes in comparison.

 

[tcp71]

We pay a $.10 to $.25 deposit on every can or bottle we buy including milk cartons of all sizes. It is refunded at “bottle depot” recycling centres. Kids community sports teams will run bottle drives and can make a few thousand dollars in a day. I generally return them when I have a few garbage bags full. Usually returns $20-30 of my deposit back. I always find it strange travelling to the USA and people throwing cans and bottles in the garbage. If that happens here, the homeless will dig in there and grab them. Pays for some booze or drugs.

 

[Nessism1]

I don't bother with returning beverage containers myself anymore. It's too frustrating, and not worth the money. So, into the recycling bin they go. It's against the law to raid people's recycle bin, but that doesn't stop anyone. In my area, there is someone that comes by in the middle of the night, in a vehicle. Not some homeless guys. We take the recycle bin to the street the night before, but I wait until morning before adding the CRV stuff.

 

[bdcardinal]

I am an Arrowhead Water Snob.
When I finish a bottle, I crush it, put the cap back on, then they go into a 45 gallon garbage bag.
I consume quite a bit and I am cheap so off to the local recycling center I go, periodically.

The recycling centers by us have stopped accepting bottles with the caps on them.