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

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#171

Post by megy » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 10:53 PM UTC

lolsal wrote: post #30

jwagenet wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 1…

> 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. Why do you doubt that it could be a high percentage? A huge number of folks live in Vancouver across the OR/WA border and commute into Portland every day, and do their shopping in OR for the lack of sales tax.

Sure, but how many are going to drag there bottles across the border for a few cents, dollars at the most?

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#172

Post by megy » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 10:54 PM UTC

dgzl wrote: post #144

evjim wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just said it. They do their shopping in Oregon. So they probably buy the bottles their tax free. Save ten cents on tax, spend it on deposit. It's a wash to the consumer.

Many people in Oregon just give away their cans to the street. I imagine this is true in Washington as well. If a person collects free cans in Washington, where they're worth less, and brings them to Oregon for a higher return, then they would be gaming the system.

Yes, of course, but there would not be a lot of them.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#173

Post by xfitm3 » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 10:59 PM UTC

My area has a problem with contaminated material collected for recycling. It's so bad there is an active marketing campaign urging users not to recycle unless they're absolutely certain the material is recyclable. I witnessed a recycling collection truck dump its entire load at the landfill, and an employee mentioned its a regular occurrence. I'm fortunate that I have great trash collection. I can dispose of up to 6 yards per week. Although my area has one of the lowest recycling rates of the country.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#174

Post by megy » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 11:01 PM UTC

ars wrote: post #129

johnm1019 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For $0.10 a can, I don't see this strategy being profitable.

A sheet of paper can easily hold 60 barcodes, and costs about 5 cents to copy. A pack of gluesticks is $1 and can handle hundreds of bottles.

And time is free. Just get prisoners to do it. And then you have to ship the bottles to them, of course, unload, and load them back.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#175

Post by megy » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 11:02 PM UTC

matthoiland wrote: post #20

meritt wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

With cans, you could crush them, so they took up only a small amount of room.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#176

Post by labster » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 11:10 PM UTC

lolsal wrote: post #30

jwagenet wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 1…

> 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. Why do you doubt that it could be a high percentage? A huge number of folks live in Vancouver across the OR/WA border and commute into Portland every day, and do their shopping in OR for the lack of sales tax.

A few years back, California's recycling rate for plastic was 104%[0]. It can get pretty high because recyclers, not just individuals, can go across the border for a better rate.

[0]: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/07/local/la-me-can-frau...

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#177

Post by siruncledrew » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 11:23 PM UTC

lqet wrote: post #61

francisofascii wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Random checks of out-of-state mail trucks should certainly be in order. :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bottle_Deposit

But only on mother's day!

Such a good episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGJZcHgqX1g

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#178

Post by megy » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 11:30 PM UTC

jimmar wrote: post #132

I live in Michigan and I hate the bottle deposits. I would strongly prefer just putting bottles in recycling. Bottle deposit machines break down frequently, the machines fill up, they only take cans sold at the store you bought them from, that part of the store smells bad and is dirty and sticky, and the cans take up a non-trivial amount of space in your home.

I mean, this is the reality of using a product. Should all the difficult parts and smells be removed, or should you have to experience the downsides as well as the upsides of consuming.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#179

Post by mmmeff » Thu, Jan 24, 2019, 11:31 PM UTC

jnellis wrote: post #98

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!

This is exactly the scenario in Los Angeles. There is a collective army of bottle and can collectors pulling them from recycle bins and everywhere else. Bins are scoured a dozen times a day; you won't find lone can on the street anywhere.

Don't forget the part where the homeless walk down Dockweiler beach every morning and dump the garbage cans onto the sand to more easily pick through the trash to get at the cans.

What a lovely system we've created.

Re: Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate

#180

Post by RosanaAnaDana » Fri, Jan 25, 2019, 12:09 AM 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!

Another Oregonian checking in. I wonder if there is any correlation between rates of homelessness and redemption rate; my biased impression is that homelessness in general has only increased with my time here, as well as the rate at which I see (almost exclusively) homeless or very low income individuals recycling.

I personally will not be bothered redeeming in Oregon, since all cans and bottles have to be manually fed into the reading machine. Coming from California where I can just bring a trashcan full of cans in and get my money, I find the system a complete waste of time.

I separate out my recyclables for the canners and leave them out for whomever wants to put in the effort of standing in front of the coop for an hour.