HI Bob,

On Sun 2038-Jun-13 02:10, Bob Ackley (1:300/3) wrote to Richard Webb:

 RW> Yah yah, I know, this stuff is recyclable.  Back in Iowa I
 RW> used to take them to the courtesy counter at the store, a
 RW> nickel a can, they had to be clean, and not crushed.

BA> Most stores prefer not to handle the returnable deposit bottles and
BA> cans. The reason is not only the hassle of getting their money, but
BA> the (usually) unwashed bottles and cans attract insects, mice and
BA> rats.

Yah I know, same reason I don't like them accumulating
around here.  Many of the major supermarket chains do back
in your neck of the woods though, i.e. Hy vee, SUper VAlu,
Dahl's.

BA> There's a center in Red Oak that takes bottles (plastic and glass)
BA> and cans, though; it's run by an outfit that provides jobs for
BA> people who are mildly retarded.
BA> They'll take smashed and flattened aluminum cans, too, but they
BA> don't pay the nickel deposit on them.  Apparently the cans and
BA> bottles have to be sorted by manufacturer and returned to them, and
BA> the respective manufacturers reimburse them for the expense.  I know
BA> that the center takes in several thousand cans and bottles a day;
BA> dunno what they do with the glass bottles, there's no deposit
BA> involved
BA> on them, only on plastic soda pop bottles.

YEp, have such a center in Burlington too, and they take
stuff which is picked up curbside in this little blue two
wheeled containers, or you can bring stuff there and sort it into the right bins.

BA> The small towns around here have a recycle trailer for paper,
BA> plastic, cardboard and non-deposit (steel or aluminum) cans.  It's
BA> not much of a bother to me to separate that stuff out and take it in
BA> once a month or so.

Yah wouldn't be either if they had a location in this little town, but
would entail a drive a distance to do it, so here, even though politically
incorrect, they get chucked in with
the general refuse to be discarded on MOnday mornings.

BA> One thing that bugs me about the bottle deposit system here is that
BA> it only applies to soda pop bottles.  Iced tea and lemonade - among
BA> other things - come in exactly the same bottles but there's no
BA> deposit on them. 


Yah that always got me too.

Regards,
           Richard
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+