California DOJ busts recycling rings
A four-month investigation by the California Department of Justice (DOJ) resulted in the arrests of 31 suspects from three rings allegedly involved in selling out-of-state recyclables in California. Members of the three rings allegedly made $3.5 million by redeeming materials through California’s recycling program. Most of the materials, which were mostly glass and aluminum, came from Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona.
One ring allegedly trucked cans and bottles from Arizona to California, after filling them with sand to increase their weight. A second ring allegedly stockpiled recyclables at a home in Las Vegas, then trucked them to a house in Montclair, and then sent smaller loads to recyclers in Southern California. A third ring was allegedly operated by the owner of a recycling company in San Diego.
California’s “CalRecycle” program redeems aluminum for a minimum of $1.57 a pound, as compared with a redemption value of about $0.18/pound in Mexico. Arizona and Nevada have no redemption program at all! When a person in California buys a bottle or can, the California Redemption Value is paid at checkout. The redemption value is returned when the container is returned at one of California’s 2.000 recycling facilities.
When an out-of state can or bottle is redeemed, California loses money, because cash is given for a container for which the California Redemption Value was never paid. To bring recyclable materials worth more than $400 into California is a felony under state law.
Although the state fund has always had a surplus, it went “into the red” last year, according to the spokesman for the California Department of Resources, Recycling, and Recovery. The main reason is that recycling rates have increased from about 67% in 2007 to about 80% or more in 2009.
The LATimes article gives details about the alleged operations of the three recycling rings and the people allegedly involved.
-Bill at
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