Can/Bottle Redemption
- Thread starter mkadl
- Start date
I can do math. I know what my time is worth, and I know what I get for feeding a bag of cans into the machine at Hy-Vee.
There is a fantastic recycle facility in Boone. Seriously! Very organized. Very friendly. If you know how many cans are in your plastic bag, they trust you (they can probably estimate pretty easily), and pay you. Otherwise, they will count or estimate for you. Along the walls are bags of cans sorted by bottler. It seems like they may be able to make a little extra money by sorting them. At any rate, before you leave, they hand you another bag and thank you for coming. Extremely professional and personal operation.
It would be nice if Ames would simply offer recycling bins for plastics/cardboard/cans/glass instead of either separating things out and dealing with it ourselves or tossing it all in the regular trash. I don't go through a lot of products with a redemption value, but I do make the effort to return what I have (or take the wine bottles with zero redemption value to a yellow dumpster at the grocery store (also not ideal). Seems like if anyone was serious about getting this stuff out of the landfills or in the roadsides, something would have changed by now. It's pretty clear recycling is not a priority in many places. 
We have two redemption centers down here in Bloomfield that take cans, only problem is that you have to put them in the cardboard flats yourself when you get there. When my sons were in HS and at ISU and they came home, we would load them up in the truck and take them up and I would split the money with them.
Now with them having moved away, I take them over to the school that I teach at a couple times a year, the money goes to the Jr. class to pay for prom and senior trip the year after. They load them up and take them to Centerville every few months and the redemption center there counts them and sends the school a check for the amount.
Now with them having moved away, I take them over to the school that I teach at a couple times a year, the money goes to the Jr. class to pay for prom and senior trip the year after. They load them up and take them to Centerville every few months and the redemption center there counts them and sends the school a check for the amount.
KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
The law didn‘t change. Donor money just talks louder in the Statehouse.
HyVee and the other big grocers have always hated having to take back cans and bottles, complaining it was unsanitary to have dirty/cigarette-butt & bug filled containers hauled into their stores. Admittedly, they have a point there. So many of them put in the sorting machines with a separate entrance, so they didn’t have to be brought inside the store.
Problem solved, right? Well, HyVee used the pandemic as a health excuse to stop taking back cans and bottles completely, as a “temporary” health measure that has turned permanent. Now that it’s clear COVID isn’t spread by surface contaminates, these grocery stores are just ignoring the law requiring they take back the recyclables … and the state legislature isn’t interested in forcing them to comply.
Aluminum is the most easily recycled item in your trash. That being said, it still is not being recycled like you think. The resulting aluminum is not as good, car and aircraft makers for example won't use it, and the price manufactures are willing to pay for recycled aluminum is much lower. As a result, a lot of the aluminum people think they are recycling ends up in the landfill anyway. The old bottles that got washed would actually be better, and they keep your pop cold.
Beer and Pop Cans Are Not Being Recycled Because Car and Airplane Makers Don't Like Recycled Aluminum (treehugger.com)
Beer and Pop Cans Are Not Being Recycled Because Car and Airplane Makers Don't Like Recycled Aluminum (treehugger.com)
I donate all of my cans. Everywhere I've lived has some type of organization that will take them as a donation. Less hassle for me and the money goes to a good cause.
Stores can receive an exemption if there is a redemption center within a reasonable distance, but 30 minutes certainly doesn't qualify. Its supposed to be a 10 minute drive. You could ask to see the stores approved exemption and tell them if they don't have one they can be reported to the authorities and face both a fine and jail time for for refusing to take them back. That might get their attention.
We have a guy who swings by every 3-4 months. People pet each other know. He looks at the bag and and gives you a random figure. I take what he gives. The money I would spend taking them somewhere would eat up everything.
If you mean Story County then the garbage is sorted at the Chantland Recovery System and the non-recylable material ends up at the Boone County Landfill.
I take my to Tipton. Can City. It has some weird hours and yeah, the employees can be kinda grumpy. But I always know how many I have so just takes 30 seconds. Also they sometimes are NOT open when they say they will be, also kind of random.
Woah this would be a major party foul at our tailgate! Throw the cans in on the ground, the youth groups come around and collect them. Just be nice about it, we usually just toss them under the main game/gathering table. We aren't dicks though and help them pick them up when they swing by.
Didn’t grow up in Iowa so I didn’t even know this was a thing. I did this one time after I moved here and said screw it, This isn’t worth it.
I will say I saw a major argument from 2 ladies about recycle machine etiquette. One lady was using 2 machines. They about came to blows over it. Never seen anything like over something so stupid.
I will say I saw a major argument from 2 ladies about recycle machine etiquette. One lady was using 2 machines. They about came to blows over it. Never seen anything like over something so stupid.
Usually we get a can pile going too. Usually some student orgs will pick up whatever is left a few hours after the lots empty if nobody picks them up during the game. Just know they are being technically recycled regardless!
