Patience and social distancing are two requirements for cashing in bottles and cans at Salem’s BottleDrop centers. Customers cash in at the center on Northeast Commercial Street on Friday, May 1. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
During the virus outbreak, recycling bottles and cans has become an essential business.
In Oregon, cans, bottles and other containers can be redeemed for their 10-cent deposit, which many low-income people rely on for a source of cash.
Many grocery stores have stopped redeeming bottles and cans. The Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative, a cooperative of the state’s beverage distributors and grocers that oversees the deposit system, has taken extensive measures to keep its 25 BottleDrop centers open, said spokesman Joel Schoening.
Last month, state orders shuttered or restricted businesses across the state.
“We looked at it and we believe we are an essential service,” said Schoening. Especially for low-income people, he added.
The BottleDrop centers are stand-alone facilities where consumers can drop off bottles and cans for cash. There are three in Salem.
Schoening said that it may appear that BottleDrop centers have become crowded. But he said that new social distancing measures require people to keep six feet apart while waiting.
“The lines can look dramatically longer,” he said.
He said that each BottleDrop is limited to 25 people on average who are allowed to use every other redemption machine. Each is cleaned after every use.
“The great thing about BottleDrop is that it’s a pretty low touch experience anyway,” he said, describing how users place containers into the machine and press a button to get their receipt.
Face coverings, gloves and goggles have already been in use by staff before the outbreak and have been on hand, he said.
He said that there has been more interest in the cooperative’s Green Bag Program. It involves consumers taking plastic bags home to fill with bottles and cans that they can drop off and have credited to their account.
While BottleDrop centers have diminished capacity, he’s said it’s not clear if fewer containers are being redeemed. He said people could be stockpiling cans and bottles to redeem once the outbreak dies down. – Jake Thomas
Patience and social distancing are two requirements for cashing in bottles and cans at Salem’s BottleDrop centers. Customers cash in at the center on Northeast Commercial Street on Friday, May 1. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Patience and social distancing are two requirements for cashing in bottles and cans at Salem’s BottleDrop centers. Customers cash in at the center on Northeast Commercial Street on Friday, May 1. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Patience and social distancing are two requirements for cashing in bottles and cans at Salem’s BottleDrop centers. Customers cash in at the center on Northeast Commercial Street on Friday, May 1. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
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