Item 07 - OC Grand Jury’s Investigative Report, Findings and Recommendations Regarding “Where Have All the CRVs Gone”

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Where Have All the CRVs Gone? 2021-2022 Orange County Grand Jury Page 4 typically a half-mile radius circle with the center point originating at a supermarket that meets the following definitions based on Public Resources Code Sections 14509.4 and 14526.5: • Supermarket is identified in the Progressive Grocer Market Guidebook. • Supermarket gross annual sales are $2 million or more. • Supermarket is considered a full-line store that sells a line of dry groceries, canned goods, or non-food items and perishable items. A convenience zone is required by law to have within the zone’s boundaries a recycling center that redeems all California Redemption Value (CRV) containers. A convenience zone with a recycler inside its boundaries is considered a served zone. Convenience zone recyclers provide opportunities to redeem containers near where the beverages were purchased. For the past several years, using the California redemption program has been a challenge for Orange County consumers. Several factors have led to this difficulty, including lack of access to fewer redemption centers. More than 1,369 supermarket redemption centers have closed since the peak in 2013. Just over 1,200 redemption centers remain in operation in California compared to nearly 2,600 centers in 2013. According to three separate surveys, supermarket chains and other beverage retailers legally obligated to be recyclers of last resort are refusing to redeem consumer deposits up to two-thirds of the time.3 CalRecycle brings together the state’s recycling and waste management programs. They have provided grants to five pilot programs in California which make resident consumer CRV refunds more accessible and convenient, with the goal of diverting more recyclables from landfills. One pilot grant program is currently operating in Orange County. REASON FOR THE STUDY The subject of unclaimed CRV, and a pilot program being developed to address it, were brought to the attention of the OCJG through recently published articles and personal experience. A yearlong investigation of the California bottle deposit program found that the system could collapse without fundamental reform and that best practices are not being used.4 Currently, redemption centers in Orange County are few and far between and have been closing at an alarming rate. The lack of redemption centers has increased the statewide unclaimed deposits held by CalRecycle to over $600 million. 3 Liz Tucker, “Trashed, How California Recycling Failed and How to Fix It,” Consumer Watchdog, published January 2020. For surveys showing that obligated stores refuse to redeem empties two thirds of the time, see: https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/energy/consumer-watchdog-report-shows-66-grocery-stores-surveyed-refused- recycle and https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Cash-in-the-Can-Californias-Recycling-Run-Around- 564236811.html and https://abc7news.com/society/stores-required-to-redeem-crv-on-bottles/5553583/. 4 Liz Tucker, “Trashed, How California Recycling Failed and How to Fix It,” Consumer Watchdog, January 2020.