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click to flip through (3) Shutterstock Bags and bags filled with recyclables were piling up in Kathy Hutchinson’s shed. She had been waiting for the Eureka Recycling Center to resume paying for California Refund Value bottles and cans after it closed in March due to COVID-19 restrictions, but the eagerly anticipated reopening was short lived. The center briefly resumed its CRV redemption services last September but an overwhelming demand caused traffic congestion and hazards on Broadway, which caused Humboldt Waste Management Authority to discontinue the service, which wasn t penciling out financially anyway. In 2010, Humboldt County had a total of 10 CRV redemption centers but at the beginning of last year only five remained. Now there are none, as centers in Fortuna, McKinleyville and Redway all closed their CRV programs in 2020, which partially led to the flood of demand that prompted the Eureka Recycling
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.