COUNTYWIDE : Can Recycler to Pay $22,355 to Settle Case

American Can Banks, which operates several recycling machines in Ventura County, has agreed to pay $22,355 in civil penalties for failing to dispense the posted redemptions for aluminum cans.

The case was filed and settled Tuesday, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Linda S. Groberg, who works in the consumer and environmental protection unit. The company settled the case without admitting any guilt, Groberg said.

In addition to the fine, the settlement requires the company to adequately maintain and repair the can receptacles, post a phone number and address for consumer complaints and keep a record of all complaints received--”basically just restatements of what the law requires,” Groberg said.

One consumer who complained to the Ventura County Department of Weights and Measures said a recycling machine gave him 12 cents for two 33-gallon trash bags full of aluminum cans. Another complained to American Can Banks and received a refund check five months after making an aluminum deposit.

Groberg said it is impossible to determine how many people were shortchanged by the machines and by how much. The bulk of the fine will be deposited in the county’s general fund, with $5,355 paid to the Department of Weights and Measures to cover the cost of the investigation, which began in December, 1988.