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Crime

There’s a Massive Recycling Loophole in California…and It’s Draining the State of Up to $200 Million a Year

Oct. 9, 2012 1:07pm Erica Ritz

When Gov. Jerry Brown took office in California in 2011, he said he faced a “wall of debt” totaling roughly $28 billion. City after city has since declared bankruptcy*, and Brown has announced plans for massive tax increases on the rich to bridge the gap.

The Los Angeles Times, however, is reporting that just in the recycling budget, the government is paying out between $40 and $200 million a year to scam artists running a lucrative black market of plastics and cans.

“The law says California has to make it easy to recycle … so anyone with a devious mind, it’s so easy, they can just go right in,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Dave Chapman explained.

California Recycling Programs Pay Between $40 and $200 Billion a Year to Scam Artists

(Photo: AP via Politico)

The L.A. Times continues, explaining how recyclable materials are brought in from out of state and redeemed:

Under the state’s 25-year-old recycling law, California charges consumers a deposit on most beverage containers sold within its borders. Anyone who brings empty containers back to one of about 2,300 privately run recycling centers can collect 5 cents for most cans and bottles and 10 cents for larger containers.

Only products sold in California are eligible. But a can is a can — and many recycling centers in California aren’t that interested in where they come from.

Hence the influx from out of state. Last summer, the state Department of Food and Agriculture counted all vehicles driving into the state with used beverage containers through 16 border stations. The three-month tally was 3,500, including 505 rental trucks filled to capacity with cans. [Emphasis added]

(AP File Photo)

In one example, officers from the Justice Department’s recycling fraud unit (did you even know that existed?) suspected a pickup with an attached trailer might be carrying illicit cans, so it tracked their progress. According to officials, by the time the group was arrested several weeks later, it had raked in about $189,000.

The scheme is particularly rampant in California since it is one of the only states in the region with the program, and while the collection centers are privately-run, they bill the state for all the money they distribute. Moreover, with current technological capabilities, many note that it would be impossible to verify that every can was purchased in California before processing.

CalRecycle — the state’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery — is also coming under fire for severe mismanagement, failing to investigate credible tips, and even having such a backlogged set of books that it was owed $10 million by beverage distributors and manufacturers.

Commenters appear torn on the subject. Many say that in the grand scheme of things, criminals channeling their efforts towards efficient recycling isn’t such a bad thing. Others are upset that, rather than reform the program to keep the benefits in place but minimize fraud, the Justice Department is wasting millions on units dedicated to cracking down on criminal recyclers. Still others want the program eliminated entirely.

*Of course, it should be noted that out-of-control public spending and unfunded liabilities for pensions and other post-employment benefits for its public sector employees are to blame for these bankruptcies.

–

Becket Adams contributed to this report.

–

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Comments (63)

nosharia
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 3:29pm
CA tries to do a good thing and this happens. Then CA gets stuck for the bill! They are really good at agricultural stops. Why not check all cars entering CA for cans at the same time? If contraband is found, deny entry to the state.

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- STEEEEVE53
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 4:02pm
  I must assume that you are not a citizen of the United States. There are no crossing points between the
  states, so your idea of checking vehicles for contraband and denying entry doesn’t seem to be very feasible. However well intentioned they may have been, those Californians who came up with their recycle program just weren’t too smart, were they ?
  
  Report this comment
- Detroit paperboy
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 4:17pm
  The government that governs least, governs best…….
  
  Report this comment
- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 4:32pm
  Every time I have driven to California, I have had to stop at a checking center, that’s just like a toll booth, so they can check for any fruits and vegetables coming in, because of fruit flies and other insects that would damage their crops. They stop you and ask you if you are carrying any fruits or vegetables.
  
  Report this comment
- CrismaFire
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 8:50pm
  California sucks they do everything wrong. I live in that worthless state and only way life is good is if you are an illegal living off Americans. They have agriculture inspection at the border, useless. California cheats it people cause they pay you for what you deposited for the can and then they sell the Aluminum for profit.
  
  Report this comment
- 9111315
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 11:45pm
  STEEEEVE53, I must assume that you have never driven a vehicle into California.
  
  Report this comment
- JokerWatcher
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:16am
  Law of Unintended Consequences is triggered almost exclusively by acts of democrats
  
  Report this comment
- G-WHIZ
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:38am
  This is just a small part of Progressive-Agenda to crash all states andthe Fed-Govt.!!
  
  Report this comment
- dmerwin
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 9:16pm
  Yet another well intentioned and not thought out liberal agenda plank.
  
  Report this comment
- Rampart
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:42pm
  Cause, effect. Cause, effect. Cause, effect.
  
  It’s simple really…
  
  Report this comment
marcus_arealius
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 3:27pm
I predict the Kommifaggafornian demorats will deploy some scheme to hire inspectors to examine every can and bottle redeemed.. at a cost of .25 a can/bottle.. thus making the entire operation a money sink hole for the government.. which defines government.. a parasite on society. Thanks Parasites!

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- Libermerican
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:32am
  Maybe the TSA can take charge of the can and bottle inspections.
  
  Report this comment
- Grand design
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:06am
  Actually it would seem that the TSA workers would be an excellent fit for bottle and can inspectors in California and throughout the nation! The DHS could eliminate their existing role in government and concentrate on illegal cans and bottles! Problem Solved!
  
  Report this comment
termyt
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 3:24pm
The program is not a benefit (except for those illegally bring out-of-state cans in). They’ve actually made the cans worthless.

In a state with a 5 cent deposit, they add $.05 to the price of the can. So, a $.25 cent can of pop costs $.30. Turn in the can, you get your nickel back. What was the can worth? 0.

In states without the program, you pay $.25 cents for the can of soda. If you collect the cans, you can take them to a recycle center and get something for it. Sure, nowhere near 5 cents, but something. The can has a value.

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bumfuzeled
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 3:19pm
They said it themselves, no one can tell where the can was produced or sold. My defense as a can smuggler would be that these cans were sold in California but consumed in my state, I’m just bringing them back. Does not take rocket science to confuse the progressives.

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- laserblast92
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 9:51pm
  There is a stamping on the top of the can that indicates it’s value depending of what state you are in. CA and MI consumers pay an extra .10 per can and some other states .05 per can but most others pay nothing extra per can. Easy money if you can find the right recycling center…
  
  Liberalism at it’s finest again….
  
  Report this comment
bornagaincowgirl
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 3:13pm
California should elect Sarah Palin as governor, she could straighten that state out.

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THX-1138
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 2:59pm
There must be a million examples of how government can screw things up.

Is there even one example of how they make things better? (Other than protect us from *other* governments, ala Mafia “Protection” rackets…)

Government is a Scam. Pay up!

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coyote1hell
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 2:33pm
Cali is a microcosim of the Obama Admin, they are so screwed up with their brain dead ideas, that they can’t get their heads out of their…butts…or as in cali..each others butts…..

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Eastinfection
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 2:19pm
Give California to Mexico. Problem(s) solved.

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- rabblechat
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 4:06pm
  How bout this, instead of giving up and advocating for the conceding of sovereign territory why not work towards taking it back? Aside from some of the people in the state, California is one of the most beautiful, diverse and geographically important states in the union.
  I guarantee you LaRaza and their kind hope that we will simply grow tired of fighting the fight and do just what you advocate.
  
  Report this comment
IntheDirt
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 2:15pm
It happens on the Idaho/Oregon border too. In fact Wal-Mart in Ontario Oregon is less than a mile from the border and has a machine that you put your cans in and it reads the bar codes and gives you cash. Most of the time there is a line at the machine. Unlike California there isn’t an SS checkpoint at the border.

I used to live in California and Reno NV. I used to go out of my way to drive around those communist checkpoints so I could keep my produce. Suckers. As an added bonus it is fun to stick it to the man. Who needs six flags, smuggling rouge apples into California is just as fun.

Liberal States are Suckers.

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phillycornerboy
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 2:09pm
i remember a story decades ago about bfi and the mob in nyc. how can bfi be a known mob scam and continue for decades? corruption, that’s how. forget cans, what else is the mob burying in our landfills? toxic waste? bodies? follow the money and you will see what real corruption looks like. our government and political system is totally infiltrated wth criminals and commies. America needs to clean house and throw them all out. follow the money and impeach anyone who touches it.

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Oneirishman
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:58pm
Illegal cans bad, costing taxpayers money.
Illegal immigrants good, costing taxpayers money.
Maybe if we payed the illegals to carry cans across the border it would be secured.

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The-Monk
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:46pm
“Three Indicted in Seinfeld-Like Bottle Deposit Scheme”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/three-indicted-in-seinfeld-like-bottle-deposit-scheme/

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The-Monk
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:42pm
Reminds of that Seinfeld show where Kramer and Newman tried to recycle bottles out of state on Mother’s Day…. “The Bottle Deposit”.

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- 2MINUTESTOMIDNIGHT
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:48pm
  Do monks have television sets?
  
  Report this comment
- The-Monk
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 2:19pm
  Hi 2MINUTESTOMIDNIGHT,
  
  I didn’t for many years. When I got my cable “bundled” package I bought a TV Tuner for one of my computers and have been using that for about 10 years.
  
  Report this comment
- Max jones
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 6:04pm
  I have 4 flat screens. can record three programs at a time. Watch only Shepherd’s chapel, UFC, Nascar and Dallas cowboy football…..just that out of 300+ channels……Yeah…All of that, just to see Arnold Murray every day.
  
  Report this comment
valleyfever
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:38pm
So that is what these fat a$$e$ that staff the agricultural stations are doing…counting trucks carrying cans and bottles. Maybe the solution is to stop them and turn them around. This can’t be too hard 3500 vehicles/90 days/24 hours/16 stations= .1 vehicle per day per station or one vehelcle every ten days per station. Think about what it costs to staff the inspection station instead.

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- PoliticallyRightUs.Com
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:45pm
  Idiot liberals and their brain storm idea is now catching up with them… The thought of arresting people for crossing state lines with aluminum cans… Really????????? F ing Natzi’s
  
  Report this comment
Carpy1
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:32pm
Just one more of many reasons I left Cali 7 years ago. Can’t believe they voted Moonbeam in again.

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- PoliticallyRightUs.Com
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:47pm
  The Unions and Mexicans did… Not me!!! I was out voted!!!
  
  Report this comment
- JULIKINS209
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 2:24pm
  Me too! I voted for the other gal. Moonbeam had to have stacked the ballots to get in.
  
  Report this comment
MeteoricLimbo
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:26pm
BFI got control of the dumps long ago. What better place to launder money then a landfill and then you add the cost of disposal of a CFC riddled refrigerator ($100) and your income can quadruple overnight! Face it the mob runs the trash in this country and I wouldn’t be surprise if it isn’t connected to the Federal Reverve

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perry1980
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:21pm
California is getting what they deserve.
they have regulated themselves into 6 dollar gas…..enjoy!

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- PoliticallyRightUs.Com
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:40pm
  I am a Californian and this is my home! Instead of you people trashing my state (Which is one of the United States by the way) how about pitching in to help us rid the liberals from and this failing ideology from California and the United States… If we go down so do other states around us. I am doing my part but I can’t fight them all on my own!!!
  In other words… put up or shut up
  Thank you
  Signed,
  Air Force Vet
  
  Report this comment
- TreeTrimmerJim
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 2:01pm
  @PoliticallyRight
  
  One of the truths of babies is they are ignorant at birth. Nature has charged every parent with the responsibility to teach their young to be moral, self sufficient beings. In time the young will teach their young. If this chain of responsibility can be broken, those who break the chain can control the youth through education. Those youth will, through ignorance, teach their young the biddings of those who broke the chain.
  
  “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.” ~ Adolf Hitler
  
  On one side we have the central government planning in the form of the Department of Education, manned by professors and administrators selling their time for wages. On the other side we have parents, charged by Nature’s Law with the responsibility of teaching their young to be moral, self sufficient beings. If the young are taught by parents the Department of Education and its employees need to find a new job. If the young are taught by according to central planning guidelines, the Department of Education, the parents are no longer responsible for their children. The laws of Nature have been cast aside and communities go extinct.
  
  Fix your schools… your kids will fix your screwups
  
  Report this comment
armymp
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:20pm
This was a scheme by Kramer in a Seinfeld episode LOL!

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- 2MINUTESTOMIDNIGHT
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:43pm
  Now that you mention it, throw a wig on him and Barack O’Bullsh!t resembles a mulatto Kramer.
  
  Report this comment
ronin_6
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:20pm
Another utopian scheme burned to the ground.

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KingDork
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:20pm
I live in California… well kind of stuck here and it is a cesspool. Well the natural aspects of California is nice but the people ruin it so much! No one I know even voted for this clown as gov, heck most didn’t want this loser back in but he is a union whore and the election process isn’t that legit here in cali.

Only thing we are waiting for is the state to be completely out of money and can’t fund the welfare for the horde of illegals and others who abuse the system, and watch them go into panic mode and riot… and since every mass of idiots love to riot their own neighborhoods and homes…

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- woodyee
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:29pm
  “I live in California… well kind of stuck here and it is a cesspool.”
  
  Ditto… :-( ‘sniffles’)…and ditto…
  
  Report this comment
- Sy Kosys
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 2:06pm
  I bailed in ’94…couldnt handle the incessant PC/BS day in/day out. Been back once a few yrs back and glad i left.
  
  Sorry to see my birth state failing, but im sure Hollyweird will do the patriotic thing and pay their fair share….
  
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- JULIKINS209
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 2:27pm
  Me too
  
  Report this comment
2MINUTESTOMIDNIGHT
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:19pm
Liberal morons have turned a once beautiful state into a sh!thole. Way to go progressives.

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FaithfulFriend
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:15pm
Now this is really funny. Criminal recyclers.

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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:21pm
  Only in California – and soon enough Obama will do the same.
  
  Report this comment
Psychosis
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:12pm
we get the workers and the businesses that move out of cali

they can have our used cans

hahahahahahahahahaahahahahaha

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702TruthSeeker
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:12pm
I know I know!!! California should start a new state agency that hires union workers to determine the origin of each container being recycled! Oh, and they should make the rest of the states pay for it!! California is great!! So great in fact that is should be sold off to China to pay for our debt

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- woodyee
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:32pm
  The Libs would only move to your town, like parasitic-lice-filled, organically-grown-bean-sprout-eating vermin…
  
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- 13th Imam
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:34pm
  China would drill for oil. the Hollyweird Elite would scream like little girls, then China would execute them. Maybe not such a bad idea.
  
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jackact
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:11pm
What say you Governor Moonbeam?…….

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