North Coast Journal 04-15-2021 Edition

Page 11

NEWS

HUMBOLDT

BAY BISTRO

A System in Need of Upcycling

The California CRV system’s problems continue to trickle down to Humboldt By Iridian Casarez

iridian@northcoastjournal.com

W

hen overwhelming demand closed Humboldt County’s last California Refund Value redemption service at the Eureka Recycling Center last September, it left residents with few options to get their CRV deposits back. Under state law, it’s now up to grocers and retailers to offer the service or face a $100 per day fee from the state, but finding a CRV in-store redemption service in Humboldt County has now become somewhat of a scavenger hunt. The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) maintains a list of all the grocery stores and gas stations in each California county that offer CRV redemption services. Humboldt County’s list contained 51 stores as the Journal went to press that are supposed to offer the service but some listed aren’t accepting CRV at all, while others say they’re still prepping to start the service. And many have set restrictions and limitations on the number of containers accepted and established limited CRV business hours. For residents, the only real way of knowing which stores do, in fact, offer CRV redemption services is to call and ask whether they are accepting bottles and cans, and about the amount allowed. Safeway in Eureka, for example, limits redemptions to 50 clean bottles and cans for a maximum possible refund of $2.50 per day. And that’s only when its CRV redemption services are open — Tuesday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. That isn’t working for grocers and

Though some grocers are offering CRV in-store redemption services, Recology Eureka continues to see high rates of CRV material coming through curbside recycling. Photo by Iridian Casarez

retailers, either, as they now must take on the responsibility of transporting CRV materials to market and refunding deposits to customers returning their containers, all on top of collecting pointof-sale CRV deposits for CalRecycle on the front end. The burden has simply become too much for some. There are reports of gas stations in the area that began accepting CRV materials and returning deposits, but the demand was too high, and the gas stations became overwhelmed and found themselves hoarding more CRV material than they could transport to the nearest CRV recycling center, which is in Crescent City. A gas station in Arcata the Journal contacted about accepting CRV materials asked not to be named in the article, with a manager saying she was worried about county residents swarming the business to redeem deposits. If demand becomes too high, she said, the business would just opt to pay the state’s $100 per day compliance fee instead. “It’s unfortunate that small businesses have to take on the burden of taking CRV,” Emily Manfredonia, the station’s manager, said. The same could apply to Eureka Natural Foods. Graig Fillmore, the store’s human resources administration officer, said ENF’s Eureka store is preparing for in-store redemption services and is just waiting for answers from CalRecycle about exact rules of operating in-store CRV redemption service. “We would really like to offer CRV

services. We’re all about recycling. But if demand gets too high, where we’re backlogged [on CRV material] and the store isn’t operational, we’ll start paying the daily $100 fee,” Fillmore said, adding that the health and safety of ENF employees comes first, noting that CRV crowds could complicate COVID-19 safety precautions. Asked what Eureka Natural Foods plans to do with the CRV materials it collects, Fillmore said it plans to just put them into the business’ curbside recycling bins to be collected by Recology, adding that transporting materials to Crescent City’s Hambro Recycling Center or to a recycling market in Sacramento would add to the burdening costs. It’s important to note that unlike CRV redemption centers and curbside haulers, grocery stores and retailers don’t get subsidies from CalRecycle for operating in-store CRV recycling. Manfredonia said the Arcata gas station will be taking CRV materials it collects to Hambro Recycling to recoup the CRV deposits taken out of its registers and given back to customers. But if there’s too much material and that becomes burdensome, she said the station will put them in its curbside recycling bin. Recology Eureka General Manager Linda Wise said the waste disposal company spends on average $850 to $1,500 per load to ship all recyclable materials (a portion of which are CRV) out of the area to market but costs all depend on where the materials are going and if Recology can take advantage of hauling efficiencies, like “haul backs” that allow the company to charge for hauling unrelated materials

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Continued on page 13 » northcoastjournal.com • Thursday, April 15, 2021 • NORTH COAST JOURNAL

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