Six people have been arrested for allegedly operating a recycling fraud scheme in Los Angeles County that scammed more than $10 million from the state’s recycling program by bringing more than nine tons of out-of-state materials from Arizona for redemption, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Wednesday.
The defendants allegedly brought truck loads of ineligible materials from Arizona to recycling centers in Southern California, according to Bonta.
“When individuals skirt California’s recycling laws, California consumers are hurt in the process,” Bonta said in a statement. “The California Redemption program is an important tool in our efforts to encourage recycling, reduce waste and address climate change. My office will continue to fiercely defend California’s programs and resources — and we will hold bad actors who defraud our state accountable.”
The California Redemption Value program is California’s beverage container recycling program. It’s administered by CalRecycle and incentivizes recycling at privately owned centers with a 5- or 10-cent return on eligible beverage containers. California consumers subsidize the CRV program every time they purchase CRV-eligible bottles and cans in the state. Only material from California is eligible for redemption under the program.
Arizona does not have a recycling program that provides redemption value for bottles and cans. The illegal redemption of out-of-state beverage containers drains California’s CRV fund and takes funds that are subsidized by the beverage container purchases of California consumers, Bonta said.
From Sept. 21, 2021 through March 30, 2022 a state Department of Justice investigation revealed a scheme by the defendants to import aluminum cans and plastic bottles from Arizona to California to unlawfully redeem the California recycling refund value of those items, according to the AG.
“CalRecycle works alongside our partners at the Department of Justice to root out fraud and safeguard the program that helped California recycle 454 billion bottles and cans and reduce trash pollution across the state,” said CalRecycle Director Rachel Machi Wagoner. “Beverage deposits belong to Californians and the state will continue to actively protect these funds.”
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Mars says
Shouldn’t All States Mandate Recycling This Way Everyone Helps Earth Get Healthy ..Also Honestly bringing Recycling Materials Over State lines To Recycle and Clean the Earth Does Not Seem Like A Crime To Me..Not Recycling Honestly Kills The Future of this Planet..
If I buy A Bottle To Drink From Out of State and Then Recycle It In California I Guess I’m Breaking The Law…
America's Most Appalled at CA Laws says
If you buy ammunition in another state and bring it into CA, you are a criminal here. That’s outrageous.
Tim Scott says
Why is that outrageous? Transport of goods across state lines is, and always has been, highly regulated, for numerous very good reasons. You think ammunition should be given some “rare exception” status? On what grounds?
America's Most Devoid of Consciousness says
2nd Amendment. Interstate Commerce Act. Freedom.
If the ammo went the other way, it would not be a violation. Should all be standardized under Federal law.
Tim Scott says
I agree that it should be, but since it isn’t the states regulate as they see fit. Just like you can register a “California build” vehicle in another state without penalty, but there’s a penalty registering an out of state vehicle in California.
Beecee says
I am for importing lemons across state lines and the invade fruit flies that accompany them, lol.
Jk, I agree man.
Contraband across state lines and agricultural goods across state lines has and always should be regulated for many reasons.
Tim Scott says
“If I buy A Bottle To Drink From Out of State and Then Recycle It In California I Guess I’m Breaking The Law…”
While technically you are, no one is going to complain or enforce the law you are breaking. One bottle here or there is not going to harm California’s recycling subsidy program.
And the fact that it is a recycling SUBSIDY program is why when bad actors try to exploit it action has to be taken, as in this case, because it isn’t like Arizona does not have recycling centers. They pay for the scrap metal, glass, and plastic at the value of the scrap metal, glass, and plastic. California ‘floats’ an additional amount on top. The float is pumped up when we buy stuff and returned through our recycling centers so that this float doesn’t cost the state anything.
When someone from Arizona brings in recycling by the ton (which they probably actually got from an Arizona recycling center where it was already collected anyway) they take money out of the float that the state will have to make up…so they are in effect stealing from Californians and not really contributing to anything since as I said they almost certainly are just moving stuff that was already collected. If they could honestly say “look we gathered up all this stuff out of Grand Canyon National Park ourselves” or something like that I would maybe be inclined to give them a pass, but I am 99.9% certain that they can’t honestly say that.
tsparky says
Except for Aluminum cans, recycling is mostly a fraud. Do a little research on what happens to most of the plastic recycled – you’d be shocked. Also, glass is just silica sand and unless it is sorted by color it’s mostly a waste – also it’s heavy to ship (which means diesel fuel burned).