More cash for recycled beverage containers

SACRAMENTO – The New Year brings a greater cash incentive for Californians to recommit to recycling and preserving the environment. January 1, 2007, marked the first day of an increase in the cash refund consumers receive when they take their empty California Refund Value bottles and cans to recycling centers.

Legislation signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger raised the refund consumers receive from California recycling centers to a nickel for containers less than 24 ounces and a dime for containers 24 ounces and larger. For the next six months, the amount of CRV consumers pay at the store will remain four cents on smaller containers and eight cents on larger ones.

“This is a tremendous incentive for Californians to recommit to recycling their beverage containers,” said Bridgett Luther, director of the state Department of Conservation, which oversees the bottle and can recycling program. “When people fail to recycle, it’s not just a waste of money,” Luther said. “It also means lost energy savings, because recycling saves energy and those valuable raw materials for manufacturing are tossed away forever.”

Most beverages packaged in glass, aluminum and plastic -- such as soft drinks, water, beer, sports drinks, juices and coffee and tea drinks -- are included in the CRV program. Notable exceptions are milk, wine and distilled spirits.

Californians have several convenient options for recycling and redeeming CRV bottles and cans, primarily the approximately 2,100 certified recycling centers statewide. Consumers who choose to forego reclaiming their CRV have a variety of recycling options, including neighborhood curbside recycling programs and various drop-off locations through which bottles and cans are redeemed by the entities that collect them. To find the nearest certified recycling center, curbside or drop-off program, visit http://www.bottlesandcans.com or call the Department of Conservation toll-free hotline, 1-800-RECYCLE. For more information about DOC programs, visit http://www.conservation.ca.gov .