Every bottle and can you recycle eases the strain on our natural resources and reduces greenhouse gases in our skies. Want to step up your efforts to help the environment? Want to know what’s out there beyond your community’s curbside program? No doubt, reaching for the recycling bin just feels right. So no matter how you’re doing your part, thank you.
Of course with recycling, there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing. And in that spirit, here you can learn all you need to know about how to recycle in your community and how to cash in while doing it.
Important Consumer Refund Info
CRV Redemption
California Refund Value (CRV) is the amount paid by consumers at the checkout stand and paid back to consumers when they recycle eligible aluminum, plastic, glass and bi-metal beverage containers at certified recycling centers. The minimum refund value established for each type of eligible beverage container is 5 cents for each container under 24 ounces and 10 cents for each container 24 ounces or greater including Wine and Distilled Spirits beginning 1-1-2024. If the Wine or Distilled Spirits is in a box, bladder, or pouch, or similar container, regardless of the container material type the redemption value will be 25 cents.
Eligible
for California Redemption Value (CRV)
- Beer and Malt Beverages
- Wine Coolers
- Carbonated Fruit Drinks,
Water, or Soft Drinks - Noncarbonated Fruit
Drinks, Water, or Soft
Drinks - Coffee and Tea Beverages
- 100% Fruit Juice less than 46 oz.
- Vegetable Juice 16 oz. or less
Effective January 1/2024,
- Distilled spirits in any container including box, bladder or pouch or other material
- Wine, or wine from which alcohol has been removed, in whole or part, whether or not sparkling or carbonated, in any container including box, bladder or pouch or other material
Not Eligible
for California Redemption Value (CRV)
- Milk
- Medical Food
- Infant Formula
- 100% Fruit Juice 46 oz. or
more - 100% Vegetable Juice
more than 16 oz. - Food and Non-Beverage
Containers
When in Doubt
Check the label on the container
- "California Redemption Value"
- "CA Redemption Value"
- "California Cash Refund"
- "CA CRV"
- "CA Cash Refund"
Per-Container Redemption vs. By Weight
Customers may request to be paid by count for up to 50 CRV beverage containers of each material type per transaction: 50 glass, 50 aluminum, 50 plastic. Daily load limits of empty CRV beverage containers are 100 pounds each for aluminum and plastic, and 1,000 pounds for glass. Any consumer who has been denied this right by a recycling center can file a complaint via email or by calling 1-800-RECYCLE.
Redeem Clean, Eligible Containers
Make sure your containers are whole and free of contaminants such as dirt, excessive liquid or other foreign substances. If you are being paid by weight, make sure the load contains only eligible CRV beverage containers.
Non-CRV Materials
State law requires recycling centers to pay California Redemption Value (CRV) refunds for loads that contain ONLY eligible CRV beverage containers. Non-CRV materials must be removed from the load, or the recycling center may reject the load or pay only the scrap value for the material.
Posters and Fliers
Beverages Subject to California Refund Value (CRV)
For more information contact: Beverage Container Program, https://calrecycle.ca.gov/BevContainer/Contacts/