Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash.
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In Humboldt County, California’s 33-year-old recycling buy-back program has completely fallen apart. A decade ago, the county had close to a dozen CRV [California Redemption Value] recycling centers places where you could haul your empties and trade them in for cash. By the start of this year only five remained. Now, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the continuing collapse of scrap material values on the international market, none are left.
The Eureka Recycling Center (operated by the Humboldt Waste Management Authority), Humboldt Sanitation in McKinleyville and Recology Eel River in both Fortuna and Redway have all stopped operating their CRV programs. You can still drop off your recycling; you just won’t get money for it. And curbside recycling continues in many parts of the county, with customers paying for the privilege.