Bottle refund is the Maine problem
Source: Agencies |
February 13, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
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A MEMORABLE episode of the TV show "Seinfeld" features Kramer and Newman taking thousands of cans and bottles to Michigan so they can get a nickel more per container than they would in New York, but beverage distributors say there's nothing funny when it happens for real.
In Maine, which has a more expansive bottle-redemption law than neighboring states, three people have been accused of illegally cashing in more than 100,000 out-of-state bottles and cans for deposits, the first time criminal charges have been filed in the state over bottle-refund fraud, a prosecutor said.
A couple that runs a Maine redemption center and a Massachusetts man were indicted this week for allegedly redeeming beverage containers in Maine that were bought in other states.
Thomas and Megan Woodard, who run a redemption center, face the more serious charge of allegedly passing off more than 100,000 out-of-state containers - with a value of more than US$10,000 - as if they had been purchased in Maine.
That's just the tip of the iceberg.
An estimated 90 million cans and bottles are fraudulently cashed in each year in Maine, costing beverage distributors US$8 million to US$10 million, said Newell Augur, executive director of the Maine Beverage Association.
People from other states - especially New Hampshire, which has no "bottle law" - routinely redeem loads of cans and bottles in Maine, Augur said. Redemption centers pay customers 5-cent refunds on most beverage containers and 15 cents for wine and liquor bottles. The centers, in turn, get that money back from distributors, plus a 3.5- or 4-cent handling fee per container.
In the 1996 "Seinfeld" episode, Kramer and Newman hatch a plan to drive a truckload of cans and bottles to Michigan, because the redemption fee there was 10 cents, double New York's nickel deposit.
Kramer laments it can't be done. "You overload your inventory and you blow your margins on gasoline," he says at one point. But Newman offers up free space in a mail truck he has to drive to Michigan before Mother's Day - "the mother of all mail days," he calls it - and the pair head off. (They end up aborting the trip while chasing down Jerry's stolen Saab.)
"That was a very funny episode," Augur recalls. "But this is not a laughing matter."
Officials estimate that up to 1 billion beverage containers are sold in Maine each year. Containers sold in other states, however, carry the Maine deposit stamp because it's not cost-effective to change labeling for each state.
The redemption rate - and the instances of fraud - have gone up with the poor economy, Augur said.
In all, 10 states have redemption laws, but Maine is susceptible to fraud because it has expanded its 1978 bottle-deposit law through the years beyond soda, beer and other carbonated beverages. It now accepts juice, water, sports drinks, liquor and other containers.
In Maine, which has a more expansive bottle-redemption law than neighboring states, three people have been accused of illegally cashing in more than 100,000 out-of-state bottles and cans for deposits, the first time criminal charges have been filed in the state over bottle-refund fraud, a prosecutor said.
A couple that runs a Maine redemption center and a Massachusetts man were indicted this week for allegedly redeeming beverage containers in Maine that were bought in other states.
Thomas and Megan Woodard, who run a redemption center, face the more serious charge of allegedly passing off more than 100,000 out-of-state containers - with a value of more than US$10,000 - as if they had been purchased in Maine.
That's just the tip of the iceberg.
An estimated 90 million cans and bottles are fraudulently cashed in each year in Maine, costing beverage distributors US$8 million to US$10 million, said Newell Augur, executive director of the Maine Beverage Association.
People from other states - especially New Hampshire, which has no "bottle law" - routinely redeem loads of cans and bottles in Maine, Augur said. Redemption centers pay customers 5-cent refunds on most beverage containers and 15 cents for wine and liquor bottles. The centers, in turn, get that money back from distributors, plus a 3.5- or 4-cent handling fee per container.
In the 1996 "Seinfeld" episode, Kramer and Newman hatch a plan to drive a truckload of cans and bottles to Michigan, because the redemption fee there was 10 cents, double New York's nickel deposit.
Kramer laments it can't be done. "You overload your inventory and you blow your margins on gasoline," he says at one point. But Newman offers up free space in a mail truck he has to drive to Michigan before Mother's Day - "the mother of all mail days," he calls it - and the pair head off. (They end up aborting the trip while chasing down Jerry's stolen Saab.)
"That was a very funny episode," Augur recalls. "But this is not a laughing matter."
Officials estimate that up to 1 billion beverage containers are sold in Maine each year. Containers sold in other states, however, carry the Maine deposit stamp because it's not cost-effective to change labeling for each state.
The redemption rate - and the instances of fraud - have gone up with the poor economy, Augur said.
In all, 10 states have redemption laws, but Maine is susceptible to fraud because it has expanded its 1978 bottle-deposit law through the years beyond soda, beer and other carbonated beverages. It now accepts juice, water, sports drinks, liquor and other containers.
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