Vending

Container recycling scams costing California millions; report calls for reverse vending machines

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January 11, 2022

Recycling scams are costing California consumers potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in nickel and dime deposits stolen through fraudulent bottle and can refunds, Consumer Watchdog said in a recent report.

The report calls on the state to implement reverse vending machines and bag drop machines that can screen containers for refund eligibility among its recommendations, according to a press release.

"Experts and insiders point to fraud rings that consist of crooked recycling centers and recycling processors as the source, along with an antiquated paper system of checks and balances run by the state that is easily fooled because it has not been fully digitized," the group said in its report, "Cash For Trash: Recycling Fraud in California."

This year California's Assembly will take up legislation already passed by the state Senate — SB 38 — to establish such a system run and managed by the beverage companies, the press release noted.