State Readies Cent-a-Can Recycling of Metals, Glass

The supermarket staff, several recycling company executives and politicians were standing in a grocery store parking lot in Los Feliz Tuesday, ready to promote the state’s new beverage container return law, which guarantees a penny payment for every container that is turned in instead of tossed out.

The center of attraction at the gathering, three automated redemption machines, which give money when they are fed plastic, aluminum and glass bottles, were at the ready.

Then, several yards away and several minutes before the first ceremonial recycling, a supermarket executive tossed her own used soda can into the store’s regular trash instead of handing it over to the official state recycling center.

And that’s just what the state is gearing up to combat--old habits and apathy, as the state’s new Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act goes into effect Thursday.

The state Conservation Department’s new Recycling Division is working with the beverage industry and recyclers to give consumers a different message--that it is worthwhile to recycle. The state’s new law provides penny refunds for consumers who turn in their container garbage to the 2,000 state-certified recycling centers which are being set up statewide.

Many Consumers Dubious

But many consumers, including representatives of the California Public Interest Research Group, which was on hand to picket the ceremony, believe that consumers won’t bother to lug all those leaky, sticky soda cans, beer bottles and plastic containers to their neighborhood recycling center.

Protesters at the Tuesday gathering noted that if a person drank two dozen sodas a week and returned all the bottles, he would make $12.48 a year on the returns.

“It’s futile. We want a real bottle bill. Nine states including New York and Oregon have 5 cent returns, and that is what California should have,” said CALPIRG spokesman Daniel Silverman, who was politely watching Mayor Tom Bradley put an empty container into the reclamation machine and get a coin in reward.

“That’s the second penny I’ve earned today,” the mayor quipped. “Do you have another can? I could get rich.”

Thirsty Californians guzzle their way through 120 billion containers of beverages yearly, but recycle only about half of the aluminum cans, 18% of the glass bottles and 1% of the plastic containers. Beverage containers constitute about 5% of all the state’s trash that ends up in already bulging landfills.

Goals Described

State officials hope that a concerted advertising campaign, and the increase in the number of recycling centers near grocery stores ultimately will spur consumers to return 80% of all three types of containers.

“We’re optimistic that this is going to work. But it is going to take a lot of education to get the public to get in the habit of recycling,” said Mercedes Azar, spokeswoman for the Recycling Division.

A penny may not seem like much, but Azar notes that when multiplied by the 12 billion used containers, there is a potential of $120 million in refunds.

Consumers will receive a penny each for containers that are labeled “CA Redemption Value.” The label will be etched on the top of aluminum cans and will be on paper labels on glass and plastic containers. Older containers will not bear these inscriptions and can only be redeemed for its scrap value, not the penny-a-piece price.

Recyclers are advising consumers to separate their containers by type--aluminum, glass, plastic, and by whether they have a label or not.

Those who turn in such things as unlabelled beverage containers, mayonnaise and pickle jars, jams and jelly glasses, and liquor and wine bottles, will receive scrap value for their containers.

The recycling companies have the option of paying consumers scrap value of their used containers over and above the penny, which is guaranteed by the law. Scrap value fluctuates and varies depending on the type of container.

But the state recycling division predicts that many of the recycling centers won’t pay more than a penny until they calculate how much business they will be doing.

California’s penny-per-container payment will come from a state-administered fund that is being paid for by the one-cent-per container levy that beer and soft drink distributors have been paying the state since Sept. 1.

While there is much grumbling about small returns, many environmentalists consider the compromise law a victory, given the resistance of the powerful beverage, container and supermarket interests.

Officials are hopeful that while people might not want to recycle for their own gain, they will sort their trash for the many charities expected to take advantage of the new law. Some recyclers are holding workshops to show charities how to set up their pickup points and centers. Others are contacting restaurants and bars to have them save containers for charitable programs.

To guard against public apathy, the law does have a provision that if at least 65% of the containers are not being recycled by 1988, the refund rate will be raised to 2 cents. If that doesn’t work, the refund will be increased to 3 cents in 1993.

But companies running the recycling centers aren’t leaving anything to chance. They say they are going to try to lure customers with such gimmicks as lotteries, sweepstake prizes and grocery coupons, in addition to the refunds.

The recycling companies have contracted with the state to set up more than 2,000 certified centers in the state within the next three months. Approximately 405 centers are open now, with the rest to be begin operating during the next 90 days.

Some of the centers will feature the reverse vending machines. Most will be staffed by recycling company employees.