This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of California’s Beverage Container Recycling Program; it was established in an attempt to begin the development of California’s recycling infrastructure. In order to assist in the implementation of such a large program the California cash refund program was created, but is this program still necessary?
The program works as follows; a cash deposit per applicable beverage container is taken upon purchase, the consumer can then return these containers in exchange for a cash refund. If the consumer decides to not take advantage of the refund then they are essentially paying for their own pollution.
I for one have no problem arguing that this program has done a wonderful job at promoting recycling to people of all ages.  I recall times in my own childhood where my friends and I would collect cans and bottles to make extra pocket money. Nearly a decade later I can’t throw a soda can away without being scolded by elementary school children for not recycling. To say that the Beverage Container Recycling Program was unsuccessful would be a blatant lie.
However the program’s original purpose upon its creation in 1986 was to help establish California’s recycling infrastructure. If we can agree that since then, the program has proven successful then shouldn’t it come to a close? I for one think so.
This is due to the recent influx of beverage container fraud taking place in our state and therefore assisting in the depletion of the CRV fund. People from neighboring states such as Arizona and Nevada are collecting tons of beverage containers and moving them across state lines in order to receive a cash refund, all while never paying into the fund to begin with.
Last year a reported 32 people were arrested in five separate cases of beverage container fraud, those 32 people had scammed the state out of approximately $10.5 million.
This fraud is essentially destroying the infrastructure the program was made to create, as well as cheating Californians out of their own hard earned money. As college students our community is hugely affected by the degradation of this program.
Let’s face it, college students drink, probably more so than any other demographic. Not to mention college students are broke, add that to the fact that a thirty-pack of any canned beverage is going to cost you a $1.50 extra in CRV. As miniscule as that seems, that’s only one thirty pack, eventually one becomes two, two becomes three and it begins to add up. As college students in California we are losing much needed money because of an outdated program.
CalRecycle is promoting prevention rather than dealing with the real task at hand, eliminating a now out of date program.