REDWOOD NEEDLES

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The REDWOOD NEEDLES

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New buy-back containers are now available at local markets.

By Jane Bogner, Solano Group

Be careful what you wish for. All I wanted were those pesky water bottles, Snapple bottles and cans of tea added to the bottle bill. On January 1, 2000, those containers were added to the buy back program plus all coffee, sport drink, juice and sparkling cider containers. Senate Bill 332 was signed by Governor Davis last fall. It updates AB 2020, the 1986 bottle bill. The marketplace has really changed in fourteen years. Consumers still drink their share of soda and beer, but non-carbonated beverages are becoming the drink of choice. SB 332 has added steel and 6 different plastic containers to the program. Talk about a sorting nightmare. I'll try to help you make a little more sense of all these containers.

Let's start with the term CRV. The deposit on all ready-to-drink beverages is called "CA Redemption Value" (CRV) or "CA Cash Refund." Why not just put "Deposit-5 cents" on each can or bottle, you ask? Unlike Oregon where all cans are worth five cents, California lawmakers wanted labels without a fixed price so the redemption amount could change when the market changed. Currently all containers under 24 ounces are charged 2.5 cents for CRV. All other containers, including 2 liter, one gallon, and 2.5 gallon containers, are charged a 5-cent CRV deposit. Almost all ready-to-drink beverages are included in this updated law. Excluded from the CRV deposit are milk, infant formula, medical food, wine and distilled spirits.

One more exclusion is adding a lot of confusion to the new program. Any container of 100 percent fruit juice over 46 ounces does not require a deposit.

Local grocery stores have new CRV deposit tags on their shelves. Aluminum cans that contain tea, V-8, or Kerns nectars are now part of the buy back program. Only a couple of drinks come in steel cans: Super Shake, Jumex guava nectar, and pineapple juice. Glass bottles of Starbucks coffee, SoBe health drinks, Margarita mix, grenadine, baby juice, and even lemon juice are charged a CRV deposit.

Now you are ready to tackle plastics. Look at the bottom of your empty bottle for a number (one through seven) inside a recycling triangle with letters under it. Plastic #1 PETE containers are the most common. SB 332 has added all non-carbonated water bottles along with Sunny Delight, Hawaiian punch, Gatorade and other sport drinks to the program. There is a potential of 5 additional different plastic containers with the CRV label. Fortunately, I only found #2 HDPE and #3 V drink containers at Raleys. Some examples of drinks in #2 HDPE containers are Sunny Delight, and Odwalla fruit juices. I also found several energy drinks in #3 V containers in the health food section of the store. They were made by the American Body Building company.

Since this law covers all ready-to-drink beverages, it also includes the individually packaged juices at fast-food restaurants. So if you order an apple juice at McDonalds, don’t throw the plastic cup away. It is worth 2.5 cents. Unfortunately, the one I bought did not have the recycling triangle but it will be redeemed as a #7 "other" plastic. At this time juice boxes and foil/plastic pouches such as Capri Sun are not part of the program. Vegetable juices and diet drinks such as Slimfast and Ensure were recently exempted from the program. Stay tuned for future updates.

One last oddity of this law is that all manufacturers have until January 1, 2001 to put CRV or "Ca Cash Refund" on their labels. Please remember to always leave all labels on all containers. If the label is missing, no refund can be given.

For more information call 1800 RECYCLE or visit www.consrv.ca.gov on the Internet. Jane Bogner is President of the Board of Directors of a grass-roots recycling center (VALCORE Recycling) in Vallejo. "A Sorted Affair" is published every other week in the Vallejo Times-Herald. E-mail questions about recycling, reducing waste, and composting at jabogner@juno.com.

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