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Where Have All the CRVs Gone? <br /> <br /> <br />2021-2022 Orange County Grand Jury Page 3 <br /> <br />SUMMARY <br />Each year Californians pay over $1.4 billion in California Refund Value (CRV) fees to the State <br />of California, yet only a portion of those funds are redeemed by the consumer. Since 2013, more <br />than 1,000 redemption centers have closed throughout California leaving 1,265 redemption <br />centers statewide and only 109 in Orange County.1 The quantity of convenient redemption <br />centers is constantly changing. Where once the consumer need only return their cans and bottles <br />to the grocery store to receive their money, today redemption could mean traveling many miles. <br />Due to the reduction of CRV redemption sites, waste haulers have become the default <br />beneficiaries and are paid the CRV redemption for the containers collected at curbside. Millions <br />of dollars in CRV fees still go unclaimed. Currently this amount is over $600 million, a portion <br />of which belongs to Orange County residents. <br />This report will explore the lack of redemption sites and the innovative programs being piloted to <br />return the CRV dollars to Orange County consumers. Based on the Orange County Grand Jury <br />(OCGJ) investigation, we recommend all Orange County cities and the County of Orange assess <br />the revenue stream from curbside pickup, processing, and sale of recyclable materials, and <br />leverage this to benefit their residents when negotiating waste hauler contracts. They should also <br />require waste hauler-funded additional redemption centers when negotiating contracts. <br />Additionally, the OCGJ recommends all cities and the County of Orange research and apply for <br />available grants or pilot programs from Cal/EPA California Department of Resources Recycling <br />and Recovery (CalRecycle) that focus on returning CRV funds to their residents. Lastly, the <br />OCGJ recommends development of programs aimed at educating residents regarding CRV <br />redemption opportunities. <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />California Redemption Value (CRV), also known as California Refund Value, is a regulatory fee <br />paid on recyclable beverage containers in California. The fee was established by the California <br />Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act of 1986, also called the Bottle Bill (AB <br />2020, Margolin).2 Since 2010 the program has been administered by the Cal/EPA California <br />Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). This Act was intended to <br />increase the recycling rate to 80 percent of all recyclable containers and to provide for <br />convenience in redeeming consumer deposits (CRV). <br />This Act established convenience zones. A retailer/dealer in an unserved convenience zone (one <br />without a functioning redemption center) may choose, after a 60-day grace period, to pay <br />CalRecycle $100 fine per day in lieu of redeeming containers on site or establishing a <br />redemption center in the convenience zone. From the CalRecycle website, a convenience zone is <br /> <br />1 http://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/bevcontainer/recyclingcenters. <br />2 http://www.bottlebill.org