As recycling redemption centers continue to close around the state, the remaining Bay Area locations are struggling to keep up with demand, leaving residents looking to cash in on recyclables with a dwindling number of options.
The value of plastic, glass and aluminum has decreased, forcing many redemption centers to shut their doors, despite a state subsidy program designed to help them weather market downturns.
That puts pressure on the existing centers, which are struggling to meet the demand with little funds.
“It’s a lot busier,” said Robert Holcomb, owner of Recycle It in Martinez, following the closure of another recycling center nearby and a slew of centers in Contra Costa County.
However, Holcomb’s center is not benefiting from the increased demand. Rather, he has to hire more people to keep the center running, but the value of scrap materials — where many recycling centers make their profits — is so bad, he said, that it is difficult to support the operation.
California is one of 10 states that charges customers a deposit — the California Redemption Value — when they buy bottles and cans. Recyclers can claim those refunds at recycling redemption centers, which then sell the recyclables to processing centers for the value of the CRV and a possible scrap price. The scrap value has been in a downward slide.
For example, as the price of oil has dropped, so too has the cost of plastic, making recycled plastic products less competitive with new products and lowering the scrap value of the recyclables. The price of plastic has fallen from $400 a ton 18 months ago to about $190 today, according to Mark Oldfield of the state’s recycling program, CalRecycle.
The recycling struggle is due to both local and global challenges. As recycling centers face high operating costs in the Bay Area, because of increased minimum wages and high real estate costs, commodities prices have plummeted worldwide.
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