CRV as labeled on recyclable containers sold in the state of California. By law (I presume) it is an IOU, to refund a deposit taken. Explicitly stated a promise to the consumer that a container deposit will be taken upfront on their purchase of said container, which will then be returned on recycling of empties.
Latter is where the scam begins. Returns. In order to return said container one must have a facility that processes incoming empties. In a state with 40+ million people largely scattered across five or so major metro areas millions of empties are generated on a daily basis. Water, soda, and many other versions of gaseous or non gaseous, alcoholic or non type beverage containers make the majority.
Sometimes the cost of the containers is as high as 40% of the product's sale price that a consumer pays at checkout. Yet to reclaim that back is a process as arduous as perhaps making the container themselves.
Guess what? Piles of empties sitting in store parking lots where these operations were housed in portable containers (no pun). Now you have 1 location (a monopoly) for 60,000 people. Not at all viable for someone with a family to attend to.
Ergo your deposit (which almost was) is now a mandatory tax. As high as 40% per container sold. Way to go California. Let us invest it in another billion dollar project that cracks in less than a year.
Latter is where the scam begins. Returns. In order to return said container one must have a facility that processes incoming empties. In a state with 40+ million people largely scattered across five or so major metro areas millions of empties are generated on a daily basis. Water, soda, and many other versions of gaseous or non gaseous, alcoholic or non type beverage containers make the majority.
Sometimes the cost of the containers is as high as 40% of the product's sale price that a consumer pays at checkout. Yet to reclaim that back is a process as arduous as perhaps making the container themselves.
- First job to find a location that accepts and refunds. Well nigh impossible considering that was a duopoly between two private enterprises who likely had a contract with the state to do this. For the large population footprint they had approximate coverage (by my estimate) of one location for every 30,000 people. Average drive time (not including cost of fuel) to do the drop around 15 minutes.
- Wait time at location. Consider the above and imagine at least 45 minutes to complete your transaction. Based on the size of your home you also likely did not carry a Hummer full of bottles to return but a small volume at a time. Exception to that are panhandlers and trash trawlers who scavenge empties from garbage and public facilities for a honest payout. Bums have one avenue to fund their chill.
- Mood of the operator. The job of handling what sometimes is almost garbage is no picnic. Consider standing in a metal shipping container (that can reach over 100 degrees on a summer afternoon) next to a high decibel machine that compacts bottles all day long. Not to mention the stink of the place. Also consider that half the customers showing up to return in the above mentioned (hoity) locales tends to be nut jobs too. The presumably rich are too rich to do all this dirty work. Hence the operator job is likely taken by a person with some issues of their own. No one wants that job. In my interviews of the operators some were ex-con in rehab, some were battling health issues, some appeared to be lost and sultry.
Guess what? Piles of empties sitting in store parking lots where these operations were housed in portable containers (no pun). Now you have 1 location (a monopoly) for 60,000 people. Not at all viable for someone with a family to attend to.
Ergo your deposit (which almost was) is now a mandatory tax. As high as 40% per container sold. Way to go California. Let us invest it in another billion dollar project that cracks in less than a year.
For all its showmanship on being environmentally conscious et al it is essentially an ill thought at best and robbery in its worst case.
Comments
Post a Comment