“I like it because every single day is different,” Perez said, general manager at the recycling center. “Maybe you’re going to receive a lot of aluminum. Maybe you’re going to receive a lot of copper tomorrow.”What he doesn’t see much of these days are bottles and cans. That’s because this SA Recycling location no longer participates in California’s bottle return program — the one that pays out a nickel or dime in exchange for returned beverage containers.
All that spare change — from Humboldt County down to San Diego — adds up. The amount of unclaimed money sitting in the state’s beverage container fund has ballooned in recent years, from about “Unredeemed beverage container deposits are intended to be returned to Californians and to support recycling,” Klug wrote. “These reforms are designed to increase access to recycling and increase opportunities for consumers to receive .”California passed its Bottle Bill in 1986, establishing the state’s bottle return system.
In 2014, there were 2,604 recycling centers statewide; today, there are 1,286. The number of recycling centers in San Diego County dropped from 154 to 59 during that time.“Recycling centers face significant price fluctuations” for recycled materials, he wrote in his email. “State subsidy payments to recyclers are determined by formulas defined by law, and often do not make up for changing market conditions.
The fund is supposed to help support recycling centers, reduce litter and provide grants for new recycling initiatives. Every year, tens of millions of dollars from the fund are also spent on administrative costs at CalRecycle, including salaries for some employees and executives. “If we’re going to do this, we have to be very clear about the integrity of this fund,” said Sen. Ben Allen at a budget subcommittee, which re-envisions the state’s bottle recycling infrastructure. Some small changes — such as applying bottle deposits to wine and liquor containers — have already taken effect. But the most substantial changes will happen starting next year.
“Bolstered by the strong support of the wine and spirits industries, along with environmental groups and local governments, this measure tackles some of the challenges our recycling programs face,” Atkins said in a written statement.“If everything was fully implemented,” Collins said, “then we'd have a brand new problem on our hands — the fund would basically be oversubscribed. Which could lead to the collapse of the whole program.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: cleantechnica - 🏆 565. / 51 Read more »
Source: KXDF News 13 - 🏆 266. / 63 Read more »
Source: KTVF11 - 🏆 267. / 63 Read more »
Source: FXStreetNews - 🏆 14. / 72 Read more »
Source: clevelanddotcom - 🏆 301. / 63 Read more »
Source: FXStreetNews - 🏆 14. / 72 Read more »