bottle returns

I have been thinking of a small "business" idea that might make me a little side money. I live in a state that does not have a bottle recycling program, so ive been thinking about collecting emptys from restaurants and when i have a large enough volume, driving them to a state that pays for returns (California, oregon...). how does bottle redeeming work? how much does cali pay? If i showed up with a large volume of bottles (potentially thousands) would that be a problem?

Well, I live in a state that does have bottle returns, $0.10 per bottle. It's illegal for me to return bottles bought in Wisconsin where no deposit is paid and return them to Michigan. Most stores have a $20 limit anyway. So, you'd be driving from store to store returning bottles (and they must sell that brand in order to pay deposit on them) illegally. You might want to rethink the plan.

Wasn't this the basis for a ?

Yooper Chick said:

Well, I live in a state that does have bottle returns, $0.10 per bottle. It's illegal for me to return bottles bought in Wisconsin where no deposit is paid and return them to Michigan. Most stores have a $20 limit anyway. So, you'd be driving from store to store returning bottles (and they must sell that brand in order to pay deposit on them) illegally. You might want to rethink the plan.

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interesting. I would imagine if i went to a recycling facility instead of a store there wouldnt be a limit, how do they know if the bottles are from out of state?

I wouldnt start a business that was so dependent on the following:
1) Gasoline
2) A gap in inter-state law.
3) Your competition is homeless people.

You are entitled to prove me wrong.

Rhoobarb said:

Wasn't this the basis for a Seinfeld episode?

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That is EXACTLY what I thought when I read that.

The numbers won't work...unless...mother's day...a mail truck...

There has GOT to be an easier way of making $50, if you would even net that after all the driving around you'd do.

olllllo said:

I wouldnt start a business that was so dependent on the following:
1) Gasoline
2) A gap in inter-state law.
3) Your competition is homeless people.

You are entitled to prove me wrong.

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not really a business, just something to give me some extra cash every once in a while and an excuse to go to california.

1) gas might be a problem if it keeps going up, but i could just keep saving bottles until it drops again in the winter.

2) trying to find out about the laws. how would they know they came from out of state?

3) last time i checked the homeless people around here didnt have the resources to move a large amound of bottles hundreds of miles

Its just an idea at this point, but if i can get the restaurant where i work to give me the 50+ bottles per night and get a few other restaurants to do the same thing i thought it might work.

the_bird said:

There has GOT to be an easier way of making $50, if you would even net that after all the driving around you'd do.

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there probably is.

Another reason it may not work is because the UPC barcodes on the bottles won't necessarily work in the automatic redeemers. In Oregon we have a 5¢ deposit, but Washington doesn't. I'm in Portland, and cans/bottles from Vancouver across the river won't be accepted in the redeemers. So I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm answering 2) on your list. Also on the Oregon cans it takes a deposit, Washington cans do not.

Recycling centers don't pay for bottles- some even charge for drop offs! The deposit you pay is to the retail store who sells you the beer/pop whatever. That's where you get your deposit back.

If I recycle bottles (and I do if I have Wisconsin bottles) or if no one around here takes those weird ones, we take them to the recycling center. They'd laugh in my face if I asked for the deposit back!

You could always just fill them with beer. Alternately, if they're not twist-offs you could bring them to my house, I'm usually in need of bottles.

Yooper Chick said:

Recycling centers don't pay for bottles- some even charge for drop offs! The deposit you pay is to the retail store who sells you the beer/pop whatever. That's where you get your deposit back.

If I recycle bottles (and I do if I have Wisconsin bottles) or if no one around here takes those weird ones, we take them to the recycling center. They'd laugh in my face if I asked for the deposit back!

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they have recycling centers in ca that pay for them.

hmmm....

would there be a market for clean bottles with the lables removed for cheap + shipping?

I'd never pay to have bottles shipped; it costs more than the bottles are worth. You might be able to sell them locally (Craigslist) for $5 - $10 a case (cleaned), but shipping empty bottles? Nah.

Yeah, bottles are mucho expensive to ship because of their weight and size (size mostly). Any decent amount of bottles is going to cost a lot to get transported until you start getting into freight-sized shipments. Craigslist is your best bet. Actually, filling them with beer is your best bet, but Craigslist is a very close second.