Would you support changing the bottle return fee to $.35?

Question

Bottle return fees were started in the late 1960's, starting at 5 cents ($0.05). This fee provided 5 cents for the consumer for returning the bottle, thus recycling the materials. Back then, if you collect 100 cans and return them, that's $5.00. A person could eat (hamburder cost ( $.65) on that small work or fuel their car ($.35 gallon of gas) with money left over.

Since then with inflation, the value of such fee would be $0.39, based upon inflation, but the return fee remains $.05 and at most $.10. The same effort to collect 100 cans produces $5, but that won't even buy a hamburger today.

https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1970?amount=0.05

The value of the ensuing metal or glass may have gone up as well, one may assume. Certainly the cost of the labor to collect and deposit the cans has increased.

Would you support raising the return feel so people whom do this work can make a living?

Would you support changing the bottle return fee to $.35?

Massageman · Accepted Answer

They can make the deposit for whatever "they" want.

But this should NOT be thought of in terms of providing a "system" which allows people to "make a basic living". Keeping the math simple, let's say 3 bottles = $1.00. So, to collect $1,000 a week, a person would have to gather and remit 3,000 bottles. To be fair, though, we would now have to consider how many extra calories must be eaten to have the energy to DO the collecting, the gas or electric power plus battery depreciation if an EV of a car if used to transport the bottles, the extra sneakers needed to protect the feet of the collector, the value of their lost time to do the collecting when they could use the time more profitably, etc., ad nauseam. And don't forget, EACH person would now be collecting bottles if this were the way to "make a basic living", stressing the number of bottles that would actually be recoverable.

There is a way to do this already in place: get a job! Darn near every place in our area is hiring, from bag boys to experienced welders, and everything in between.

nolabels · Accepted Answer

Absolutely.

Whatever fee works to power the system.

They'd make nothing off of me as I would return all containers.

Unfortunately, the system, as I understand it, is only sustainable by a percentage of containers not being returned.

That is wasteful in my eyes.

I'll one up the idea to better ensure the recycling of raw materials.

I'd be willing to pay an actual surcharge that finances the recycling industry at the time of purchase, not when containers fail to be returned.

I've wondered for many years why this is not the case.

What needs to be done to make it happen?

YesterdaysChild · Accepted Answer

There aren't many places that take bottles anymore. It's just a waste of time. Most just throw them in the trash. If they increase the return fee they just increase the price of the drinks. The same with plastic bottles. They just wind up in the trash/recycling bin. I don't know of any store around here that accepts them anymore.

DJB72 · Answer

I have a friend who used to collect discarded cans and bottles to return them.

These days he's bought a crucible and collects cans, melts them down into aluminium ingots and sells them to artists. He does the same with copper. He collects discarded cans and copper three days a week and casts ingots the other two then sells them online.

His brother deals with glass. Grinds it and then uses it to create vases, hand-blown bottles and commissioned art pieces. All from rubbish people discard.

They both drive luxury vehicles and have not only paid off their houses but their workshops and equipment as well. They live debt free off what people throw away as rubbish.

The glassblower is looking into ways of using discarded plastics for art so he can help reduce the amount of plastic waste he comes across when he's collecting.

razelove · Answer

I'd say if the price is going to be flexible it should reflect the price to create new polymers vs. the value reclaimed by recycling them. Looking at recycling as a whole that value is extremely low. The tag-line of recycling now is to do so because it'll save space in landfills.
Recycling isn't even offered in my city, while we have a paper recycling plant closer than the landfill.
An incentive to recycle would be building trash combustion power plants, and increasing the cost of trash pick-up for non sorted trash. The bottles weren't worth a nickel then, and still aren't now.
I think the exception there would be for aluminum. That is such an insanely energy intensive process, and we use so much of it every year.
Polymers are cheap to make, we reseed the trees we cut down already, and if you put a scrubber on the trash exhaust, you don't have to worry about CO2, just a steady supply of NaOH, and some land for tombs when you burn some toxic waste by mistake.

SnowedIn · Answer

Nope.

The problem came when retailers collected the fee (which they were happy to do) and then quickly stopped taking the cans and bottles. You still have to pay the fee. So it really isn't a deposit if you can't readily (key word) get it back. So it became tax.

Lliam · Answer

I agree with the idea. But I'd make it $.25 for small cans and bottles and $35 for large ones.
And the money should go back to being redeemable from any retailer who sells beverages, either at the cash register or from machines that are stationed outside.
Every retailer should be required to participate.

Anonymous · Answer

I was always of the understanding that bottle redemption came about to reduce litter. Based on what I see people wasymte on lottery tickets I don't think the redemption price really affects people anymore. Also when redemption came about bottled water wasn't a thing. Why doesn't bottled water have a return? I'd be for upping the redemption fee. I'd also be for getting rid of it altogether.

Likes2drive · Answer

It would be a good incentive to return the bottles but would raise the price a lot to buy something bottled

LiamJHayden · Answer

No, as that fee is collected at time of purchase, adding almost $2 additional per six pack. I can see that hurting the retailer and the manufacturer

BoopBoopBeep · Answer

The fee on my milk is $2.00. Best believe I take that back in every time.

HippieVeganJewslim · Answer

Yes. Is that a Deutsche, Österreiche, or Schweize machine in the picture? The taxes can switch from animal testing to recycling, giving gelt to the homeless with empty bottles.

exitseven · Answer

Maybe make it a dime but not 35 cents. Next thing you know it will be a buck.

Anonymous · Answer

When I was a kid it was 5p. Great for pocket money

Would you support changing the bottle return fee to $.35?

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Would you support changing the bottle return fee to $.35?

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