| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| kavajava |
Posted - 06/14/2008 : 12:32:15
What is an approximate average number of aluminum soda/beer cans you all are finding it takes to make a pound?
How many pounds do you usually turn in at a time?
How much per pound are you getting? I was quoted 65-70 cents per pound this week.
Thanks! |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Hirbonzig |
Posted - 07/05/2008 : 08:43:15
I've been getting 90 cents a pound in Washington county Wisconsin the past week. As for a deposit in WI,I do not know of any. I've heard of having to proove you live in Michigan before any deposit will be refunded on cans. |
| copperpennies |
Posted - 07/04/2008 : 17:13:31
There is no deposit in WI, but many cans do have the tops on them for Michigan. |
| kavajava |
Posted - 07/04/2008 : 12:46:57
I crush mine with a brick, just so they take up less space (and because I don't get them in incredible bulk quantities), and then I figure I won't have to make as many trips to the scrapyard--which with gas at $4 and the small amounts I am getting so far makes a difference. Don't know yet if they will offer me more yet because of it. |
| aboxaweek |
Posted - 07/03/2008 : 10:30:01
around wi pierce cty. just off mn border, i've seen $0.80 lb. i've heard that if you crush them, they pay you more a lb too! |
| NiBullionCu |
Posted - 06/30/2008 : 11:26:30
No deposit that I know of in WI??? |
| simplicitycounts |
Posted - 06/29/2008 : 23:49:39
Minnesota sucks, we get 30 cents to 60 cents a pound in my parts. But below us Iowa has a deposit, and to the right WI and MI have deposits. Go figure. |
| starwarsgeek171 |
Posted - 06/29/2008 : 14:20:00
knibloe, that's one of my favorite episodes. Thanks to Kramer throwing the cans (and eventually newman) out to reduce the weight of the mail truck (free transport) while chasing Jerry's stolen car, we'll never know if it would've worked! Classic. |
| HoardCopperByTheTon |
Posted - 06/24/2008 : 00:10:06
In CA they must pay a minimum of $1.55 per pound. We pay $1.70 per pound.  |
| nckt |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 23:53:25
I'm in CA |
| NotABigDeal |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 20:28:23
Where are you from? If listed on top, I would call the scrap yards to see what you need to do. My state is not on the can. You only get $0.30-$0.60 per pound around here I think. I don't scrap them though.
Deal |
| nckt |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 17:33:22
so i shouldn't crush? |
| NotABigDeal |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 06:36:29
I would as it takes up less space. But it sounds like that if your state is included on the top of the can, it must not be crushed.
Deal |
| nckt |
Posted - 06/22/2008 : 22:51:05
If i start keeping my cans, should i crush them?? |
| knibloe |
Posted - 06/18/2008 : 20:54:49
I was too lazy to look up the particulars. Yes the case Horgrad is talking about is the same that I was talking about.
When I was in college, some of my friends worked at an amusment park. My younger brother and I got season passes and we went on the days that they had concerts. After the part closed, we would drive around the parking lot throwing cans and bottles into the back of a truck. One would drive and the other would grab and throw. It would take an hour for the parking lot to clear out enough for the security to see us and ask us to leave. By that time we would always have $100 in cans. |
| horgad |
Posted - 06/18/2008 : 10:16:20
I tried the cross-border Indiana-Michigan thing once out of curiosity on a very small scale only because I was going to Michigan anyways. It does work (sort of), but I doubt anybody could figure out a way to make it practical. Here is what I learned:
1. Not all or many cans in Indiana are stamped with the Michigan deposit. It has to do with where the stuff is canned. For example if it is canned and sold in Indiana, it will not have the deposit stamp.
2. I don't see any reason that returning non-stamped cans wouldn't work, but I wouldn't try it as it obviously illegal and anybody doing it on a large scale or frequently is going to get caught.
3. They don't take crushed cans from Joe Blow off the street. So there is a volume issue when transporting.
4. The stores with the redemtions machines don't have to take cans from stuff that they don't sell. So even if the can has a deposit stamp on it, it can still get rejected based on the barcode. This is a problem because much of the stuff in Indiana that has the deposit stamp on it, is a less common beverage stuff that is not sold everywhere and has the stamp because canning locations / distribution centers are limited.
So to make it work you would have pull and sort cans out of your regular Indiana aluminum cans based on these questions:
1. Does it have a deposit stamp?
2. Is the can crushed?
2. What is the brand?
3. What store sells that brand in Michigan?
4. Do I have enough of these "special" stamped, uncrushed cans that take up a ton of space to pay for the gas to drive them to Michigan?
In other words, get a job at McDonalds. It is easier, probably pays more, and is legal. 
By the way, Knibloe mentioned that there was a related arrest. The one that I read about, probably the same one, was an "inside" job and not done by a Joe Blow of the street. The deal is that crushed and bundled cans are eventually sent to the state for redemtion. Somebody or somebodies with enough credentials to pass as a legimate seller figured out that they could make a ton of money selling crushed and bundled out of state cans to the state. So the were injecting cans into the stream AFTER the normal returns by Joe Blow into the automated machines.
Selling bulk more or less directly to the state is probably the only way that an illegal can return operation would be practical and look where it got them....
|
| knibloe |
Posted - 06/17/2008 : 20:31:03
NY has a deposit of .05 per can. Seinfeld had an episode based on Cramer and Newman saving cans for the nickel and driving them to MI for the dime. Also, some men were arrested in a "crime ring" last year for returning non-deposit cans from Ohio into MI. |
| clwp |
Posted - 06/17/2008 : 20:18:55
We are a couple hours from the border though and i assume the stores pay a little closer attention around the border. Our local store just ask how many you have and take your word for it. |
| Robarons |
Posted - 06/17/2008 : 18:43:51
Ok so the 'special' can theory holds no water, oh well.
Here in Michigan they have those automatic bottle return machines that can tell and wont accept non-deposit cans. Here at the local supercenter they have two signs posted: $25 limit on returns and its illegal to try to return non-refundable cans punishable by $500 fine and/or up to 90 days in jail (Not legal Advice!). Its older store and is in a shaky part of own where people try to do such scams. Once in a while you will see a pile of out of state or even Candian cans in the trash at these places
However at party stores or gas stations that dont have such equipment you could return out of state containers for the deposit. They often too have limits because their small stores. |
| JerrySpringer |
Posted - 06/17/2008 : 17:57:56
Some states have automated machines that read the bar code. I suspect the bar codes can be correlated to which states the container may be sold in originally. When I lived in Iowa, we had a 5 cents per can deposit. They just counted the cans and gave you credit at the store. As far as places seeing a driver's license, that is a new one for me. I wonder why that should matter if the cans are kosher otherwise? Maybe they take down the person's info in case the containers are from out of state? Anyway, a Seinfeld episode featured the Michigan 10 cent deposit free lunch:
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/14214576/detail.html |
| HoardCopperByTheTon |
Posted - 06/17/2008 : 16:30:36
The price of gas would be one thing that would prevent it. Also, most places will not accept material from you unless you have ID proving you are from that state. |
| aboxaweek |
Posted - 06/17/2008 : 15:36:29
in WI cans are .86 at high |
| USNavySubSailor |
Posted - 06/17/2008 : 12:28:33
quote:
Originally posted by kavajava
We have many states listed on our cans/bottles here as well--always wondered what was preventing people from taking them from one state where no deposit was paid to another for the refund. Seems like somehow there would be a law about that or something?
I'm pretty sure there are laws too. If you only had a few cans I don't think anyone would care, but if for instance, I drove down to Oregon (which is a deposit state) with hundreds of pounds, I'm sure they'd want to see my Oregon drivers license. I'm not sure how my uncle gets away with it in Michigan. Maybe he goes from store to store, cashing in only a few bucks at a time? Or maybe they don't bother to question him. Who knows? |
| kavajava |
Posted - 06/17/2008 : 12:19:15
We have many states listed on our cans/bottles here as well--always wondered what was preventing people from taking them from one state where no deposit was paid to another for the refund. Seems like somehow there would be a law about that or something? |
| USNavySubSailor |
Posted - 06/17/2008 : 12:03:00
Not a deposit state here either. Most of our cans used to have all the states on them that paid deposit, CA, ME, MI, CT, VT and HI. I'm pretty sure that's it. Rob, my uncle lives in Indiana, he makes a trip to Michigan once a year or so with his cans from Indiana. He makes a decent amount of money from what he says. I live near Seattle, and I get .70 a lb, which is roughly 2 cents a can. Not bad. They're all over the place here. |
| NotABigDeal |
Posted - 06/17/2008 : 06:34:02
Not a deposit state here, but some cans still have the state list on top with amounts. I'll get one at work today.
Deal |
