Residents to get less back from Burbank Recycle Center

Burbank Recycle Center will no longer pay CRV reimbursement for bottles and cans beginning Tuesday, according to city officials.

The center will only pay scrap value for certain beverage containers, which means residents will receive substantially smaller payments, according to Kreigh Hampel, recycling coordinator.

For example, the center currently pays $1.54 for a pound of aluminum cans, but it will drop to 20 cents under the new structure, Hampel said.

Currently the pay-out for clear plastic bottles is 93 cents per pound and 55 cents per pound for opaque plastic items such as milk jugs. Both those items will get only 5 cents per pound starting Tuesday, Hampel said.

Nothing will be paid for other recyclables, even glass, he added.

The center no longer receives state CRV funds for curbside recycling because its operator, Geoff Folsom and Burbank Recycling Inc, face allegations that they bilked the state out of $33 million in fraudulent recycling claims.

A new contractor, Burretc Waste Industries Inc., will take over the operation in February.

It’s expected Burrtec will file an application next month to recertify the center for state CRV funds, Hampel said. However, it’s not known when the state will make a decision about recertification, he added.

“It’s temporary,” Hampel said.

Between 600 and 700 customers bring their recyclables to the center a week. That number has increased in the past few years as three recycling centers in the city closed their doors, Hampel said.

Recyclables may be redeemed for full CRV value at the following centers: rePLANET, 1100 N. San Fernando Road in Burbank; West Side Metal Recycling, 6449 San Fernando Road in Glendale; and South Coast Fibers 5487 San Fernando Road in Los Angeles.

-- Mark Kellam, Times Community News

Twitter: @LAmarkkellam