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The large grocery stores in Oregon are required to accept up to 144 bottles per person per day (or $14.40/person/store/day in potential profit). At that price i

The large grocery stores in Oregon are required to accept up to 144 bottles per person per day (or $14.40/person/store/day in potential profit). At that price it doesn't really seem to be worth it to do that sort of arbitrage.

ceejayoz 8y ago
You wouldn't defraud the system by taking redeeming at someone else's store. You'd open your own version of something like https://www.bottledropcenters.com/ https://www.bottledropcenters.com/.
- evan_ 8y ago
  I'm guessing that redemption centers need to put up a hefty bond. To get enough volume of cans to make it even approaching worth your time to open a redemption center you'd need to collect tens of thousands of bottles and cans from hundreds or thousands of people, who would all want to be compensated in some way, that would be difficult to hide for very long.
  - ceejayoz 8y ago
    You'd collect them from a recycling facility the next state over, which you also own or work with in some capacity (and where there's no deposit). Owning the redemption center means no one blinks an eye when you drive up with a truck full of bottles, especially as you've mixed them up with actual redemptions. This is not hypothetical stuff. Large scale operations have already been caught: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/12/03/recycling-smuggling-scam-netted-16-1-million/2196078002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/12/03/recycling-smu... > Three suspects were arrested in a case that resulted in fraudulent payouts totaling $16.1 million over three years, the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery reported Monday. > Authorities said the Bustillos' trucking operation existed entirely to smuggle cans and bottles into California.
RandallBrown 8y ago
It's very easy to go over this limit by simply going to a different checkout line, or going through the same line multiple times. At least that's how I got over the limit in Michigan when I was in college. We used to save all our cans and bottles for the whole year and return them all at once. You're not going to make much profit off the effort though, unless you value your time at $0.

ceejayoz 8y ago

You wouldn't defraud the system by taking redeeming at someone else's store. You'd open your own version of something like https://www.bottledropcenters.com/ https://www.bottledropcenters.com/.

evan_ 8y ago
I'm guessing that redemption centers need to put up a hefty bond. To get enough volume of cans to make it even approaching worth your time to open a redemption center you'd need to collect tens of thousands of bottles and cans from hundreds or thousands of people, who would all want to be compensated in some way, that would be difficult to hide for very long.
- ceejayoz 8y ago
  You'd collect them from a recycling facility the next state over, which you also own or work with in some capacity (and where there's no deposit). Owning the redemption center means no one blinks an eye when you drive up with a truck full of bottles, especially as you've mixed them up with actual redemptions. This is not hypothetical stuff. Large scale operations have already been caught: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/12/03/recycling-smuggling-scam-netted-16-1-million/2196078002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/12/03/recycling-smu... > Three suspects were arrested in a case that resulted in fraudulent payouts totaling $16.1 million over three years, the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery reported Monday. > Authorities said the Bustillos' trucking operation existed entirely to smuggle cans and bottles into California.

RandallBrown 8y ago

It's very easy to go over this limit by simply going to a different checkout line, or going through the same line multiple times. At least that's how I got over the limit in Michigan when I was in college. We used to save all our cans and bottles for the whole year and return them all at once. You're not going to make much profit off the effort though, unless you value your time at $0.