Can Redemption

2020cy

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Aug 7, 2006
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I mean garbage, when people throw cans out, they throw everything out. I used to live on a highway just out of town and we couldn't mow the ditch without a 5-10 garbage pickup. After the can bill, rarely had to pick up anything.
 

BCClone

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Not exactly sure.
I mean garbage, when people throw cans out, they throw everything out. I used to live on a highway just out of town and we couldn't mow the ditch without a 5-10 garbage pickup. After the can bill, rarely had to pick up anything.


Didn't live on the road the HS kids use to get back into town and do their can dumps? I have a side road next to me that is good for a couple bucks every Saturday and Sunday mornings in beer cans.
 

Entropy

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Oct 27, 2008
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I would happily throw my aluminum cans and glass bottles in the recycling bin rather than make a special trip to the store to get the deposit back.
 

CycloneDaddy

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chuckd4735

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How about we get rid of the 5 cent redemption and I can just throw the cans into my recycling can like all my other recycables?

This. Create a bill that requires all trash haulers to provide a recycling service with their trash service, or another method that forces recycling service (i.e. Ankeny charges a fee on their water bill and everyone in the City is forced to have recycling). When we had that in Ankeny, we never took our cans/bottles back to Hy-Vee. It was just so much easier to thrown them into the recycling bin.
 
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CyForPresident

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How about we get rid of the 5 cent redemption and I can just throw the cans into my recycling can like all my other recycables?

I'm fine with throwing you're cans into the recycling bin (I think you can already do that?), but I like saving my cans and getting cash back. That's just me though. As long as we are recycling and not just saying "**** it," throw it wherever like last year's bill, I'm happy.
 

CycloneSarah

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This. Create a bill that requires all trash haulers to provide a recycling service with their trash service, or another method that forces recycling service (i.e. Ankeny charges a fee on their water bill and everyone in the City is forced to have recycling). When we had that in Ankeny, we never took are cans/bottles back to Hy-Vee. It was just so much easier to thrown them into the recycling bin.
Agreed. Davenport and Bettendorf switched to single stream recycling last year and gave everyone a giant trash can for recycling and its all free. It's awesome. Except that I lose 5 cents on every can and bottle I buy.
 

Cyfan1965

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Nov 9, 2016
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I know it is a pain for grocery stores but a lot of people pick up cans as their only income. It would be interesting to see the car break in numbers if they get rid of the bottle bill. I dont' want to go back to the days of ditches full of cans and bottles.
 

JD720

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I know it is a pain for grocery stores but a lot of people pick up cans as their only income. It would be interesting to see the car break in numbers if they get rid of the bottle bill. I dont' want to go back to the days of ditches full of cans and bottles.

Are the ditches full of water and juice bottles now? There's plenty of other garbage in our cars too that could be tossed out the window (fast food packaging, fountain cups, etc), but I don't see those as major problems either. You'll never eliminate it completely, but I think most of us have evolved to the point that we are not going to fill the ditches with garbage.
 

chuckd4735

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I know it is a pain for grocery stores but a lot of people pick up cans as their only income. It would be interesting to see the car break in numbers if they get rid of the bottle bill. I dont' want to go back to the days of ditches full of cans and bottles.

I dont see a bottle bill being the sole solution for that problem. Increase littering fines/enforcement. Right now citizens can turn people/cars in who litter, but I dont think many people know about it. Here is the site: https://www.keepiowabeautiful.com/aboutus/enhancement-programs/no-litter-hotline/. Increase marketing for that.
 

VTXCyRyD

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CycloneDaddy

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I'm fine with throwing you're cans into the recycling bin (I think you can already do that?), but I like saving my cans and getting cash back. That's just me though. As long as we are recycling and not just saying "**** it," throw it wherever like last year's bill, I'm happy.
I currently return my cans to the store so I get my 5 cents back but it is a major pain with dealing with broken machines and disgusting cans.
 
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Gorm

With any luck we will be there by Tuesday.
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Being in the Cedar Rapids area, the local Caseys takes back the CanShed bags full of cans and bottles. This makes it super easy for me to return for cash back. I wonder if other cities have similar services?
 

Cyfan1965

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Being in the Cedar Rapids area, the local Caseys takes back the CanShed bags full of cans and bottles. This makes it super easy for me to return for cash back. I wonder if other cities have similar services?

Can shed IC my neighbor turned me on to them easy peasy-We do a softball club fund raiser every year fill trucks with 1000's of bush light cans.
 

chuckd4735

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Being in the Cedar Rapids area, the local Caseys takes back the CanShed bags full of cans and bottles. This makes it super easy for me to return for cash back. I wonder if other cities have similar services?

I know a lot of places will give you a set amount for a full bag. The Ames Redemption Center out on East Lincoln Way used to do that, but that was back when I was in college. The one in Ankeny did as well, but our problem is it would take us 2 months to fill a bag, and you would only get like $30 for the bag. The flies and stench from keeping the cans that long was not worth the $30. Plus you had to separate glass bottles.
 
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NickTheGreat

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I absolutely hate the redemption laws. I've long said that it should be eliminated, or expanded to include all trash. Maybe McDonald's bag? Maybe cigarette packages?
 

wxman1

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Being in the Cedar Rapids area, the local Caseys takes back the CanShed bags full of cans and bottles. This makes it super easy for me to return for cash back. I wonder if other cities have similar services?

This is good to know that Caseys will take them. I looked into it last fall but with having to separate everything I don't have the room for three of those big boxes. I generally just stock up a couple of those big Kohl's bags and take those in as well as recycle all of the plastic bags we have accrued in one stop.
 

Gorm

With any luck we will be there by Tuesday.
Jul 6, 2010
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Cedar Rapids, IA
This is good to know that Caseys will take them. I looked into it last fall but with having to separate everything I don't have the room for three of those big boxes. I generally just stock up a couple of those big Kohl's bags and take those in as well as recycle all of the plastic bags we have accrued in one stop.

Well, I guess I can only speak for the Caseys in Amana. I've never taken them back to any other Caseys. I usually have 2 boxes in my garage for my common bottles. (Can's and liter bottles) Then a small container for everything else. Caseys takes them back individually as well. I did notice that on glass containers, Caseys will no longer accept them if they didn't sell them.
 

CyForPresident

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I know a lot of places will give you a set amount for a full bag. The Ames Redemption Center out on East Lincoln Way used to do that, but that was back when I was in college. The one in Ankeny did as well, but our problem is it would take us 2 months to fill a bag, and you would only get like $30 for the bag. The flies and stench from keeping the cans that long was not worth the $30. Plus you had to separate glass bottles.

This is what I do and get $20 a bag. It's easy. Just need to keep plastic and cans separate.