Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate • Hacker News Board

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#11

Post by meritt » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 4:52 PM UTC

claudiulodro wrote: post #5

As an Oregonian, I think the biggest contributor is definitely bumping the redemption value from 5 cents to 10 cents. At that price, it makes it economically viable for the homeless population to spend lots of time going around and gathering every available bottle. In my neighborhood, I even have homeless people digging through my recycling bins every few hours rummaging for bottles to cash in!

As a kid, I earned a considerable amount of money (sometimes $5+ per day) riding my bike around and collecting cans and bottles during the summer. Those bought me a lot of MTG cards and layaway payments on the latest SNES game. Now I just set them alongside the recycling bin for the homeless as well. I feel like the neighborhood kids are really missing out on a lucrative opportunity.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#12

Post by fipple » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 4:52 PM UTC

sigfubar wrote: post #7

> A row of sparkling clean reverse vending machines greet customers Yeah, these won't stay "sparkling clean" for long. I used to make an effort to redeem bottle deposits: I'd pull up in my truck and attempt to unload everything I've accumulated over the preceding couple of weeks. Eventually I got tired of jostling into position in front of the machine, arguing with the homeless, and getting into fights over who gets…

You could have probably auctioned off your bag to the crowd there for close to true value.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#13

Post by rconti » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 5:00 PM UTC

elektor wrote: post #3

Growing up in California, I assumed the bottle deposit system was a federal thing. Moving to North Carolina and seeing people causally throw away glass bottles into the trash was definitely a cultural shock for me. Kudos to Oregon for doing this.

Living in California, I've never once redeemed a bottle. I toss it into the recycling bin.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#14

Post by jwagenet » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 5:05 PM UTC

nkurz wrote: post #9

There is fear that some significant portion of the recent increase in redemption rate may be due to fraud. Oregon recently increased the redemption from 5 cents to 10 cents, but the neighboring state of Washington still does not have a deposit. This creates an incentive for people to scavenge bottles in Washington and return them across the border in Oregon. Here's a recent article about the problem: "Oregon senator…

I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some spillover from Washington or California, but I doubt that it can be an incredibly high percentage.

Frankly, I think it’s better that these cans and bottles are being recycled, fraudulently or otherwise. I’m sure it hurts the Oregon pocketbook, but according to the article, the cost of the program is only six figures. This is only a problem (cost wise) when redemption is over 100%.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#15

Post by martinald » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 5:07 PM UTC

claudiulodro wrote: post #5

As an Oregonian, I think the biggest contributor is definitely bumping the redemption value from 5 cents to 10 cents. At that price, it makes it economically viable for the homeless population to spend lots of time going around and gathering every available bottle. In my neighborhood, I even have homeless people digging through my recycling bins every few hours rummaging for bottles to cash in!

Is this actually a good thing? In Germany (esp Berlin) homeless people do this a lot, but I've seen them basically empty a whole trash container on the street to get a few bottles. While it's great there is a revenue source for the homeless; I can't help thinking that it's not a great way to do it.

Must cost a fortune to clean up the trash after people have been through them, way more than the few (euro)cents you get back...

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#16

Post by Afforess » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 5:08 PM UTC

nkurz wrote: post #9

There is fear that some significant portion of the recent increase in redemption rate may be due to fraud. Oregon recently increased the redemption from 5 cents to 10 cents, but the neighboring state of Washington still does not have a deposit. This creates an incentive for people to scavenge bottles in Washington and return them across the border in Oregon. Here's a recent article about the problem: "Oregon senator…

Is this still even a thing? Michigan also has a 10 cent deposit, and fraud was an issue in the 90's, but it's been fixed since. Grocery stores use automated bottle scanners to check barcodes. I'm not sure how you could "fool" a machine that needs a barcode for each physical bottle return.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#17

Post by wtvanhest » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 5:09 PM UTC

rconti wrote: post #13

elektor wrote: post #3

Growing up in California, I assumed the bottle deposit system was a federal thing. Moving to North Carolina and seeing people causally throw away glass bottles into the trash was definitely a cultural shock for me. Kudos to Oregon for doing this.

Living in California, I've never once redeemed a bottle. I toss it into the recycling bin.

I don't think there are places in the city to take them. You need a car.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#18

Post by 40acres » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 5:09 PM UTC

This is great and all for the environment but as someone who lives in downtown Portland the effectiveness of this program has actually reduced "quality of life" downtown.

Homelessness has been an issue here for a while, but by making it more economically viable to do bottle deposits this program has created mini hubs for the homeless to converge on.

There is a large Target store downtown with bottle deposit machines, there is usually a group of homeless folks who hang out overnight waiting for the store to open to deposit their goods -- and they leave a trail of trash and needles behind. And generally make it unpleasant to shop at the store.

Bottle deposit isn't really a means of addressing homelessness but it is just another factor when considering how chronic Portland's homeless issue is.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#19

Post by kevin_thibedeau » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 5:11 PM UTC

nkurz wrote: post #9

There is fear that some significant portion of the recent increase in redemption rate may be due to fraud. Oregon recently increased the redemption from 5 cents to 10 cents, but the neighboring state of Washington still does not have a deposit. This creates an incentive for people to scavenge bottles in Washington and return them across the border in Oregon. Here's a recent article about the problem: "Oregon senator…

Then force in-state distributors to use packaging with Oregon specific UPCs. I have mixed NJ/NY bottles that I redeem in NY. Some but not all NJ bottles will be recognized by the machines.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#20

Post by matthoiland » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 5:13 PM UTC

meritt wrote: post #11

claudiulodro wrote: post #5

As an Oregonian, I think the biggest contributor is definitely bumping the redemption value from 5 cents to 10 cents. At that price, it makes it economically viable for the homeless population to spend lots of time going around and gathering every available bottle. In my neighborhood, I even have homeless people digging through my recycling bins every few hours rummaging for bottles to cash in!

As a kid, I earned a considerable amount of money (sometimes $5+ per day) riding my bike around and collecting cans and bottles during the summer. Those bought me a lot of MTG cards and layaway payments on the latest SNES game. Now I just set them alongside the recycling bin for the homeless as well. I feel like the neighborhood kids are really missing out on a lucrative opportunity.

You make look silly with two giant garbage bags hanging off your bike, but at the end of the day who's holding on to 20 bucks? It felt like a fortune back then, and was an honest hard days work.