Efforts progress for new can/bottle redemption center

    HARLAN – The City of Harlan and Shelby County Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCC&I) are working with local retailers, a non-profit and local building owners to establish a can and bottle redemption center in town following the closing of The Can Place in Harlan in June.
    Todd Valline, SCCC&I Executive Director, said the building The Can Place has utilized has been purchased by a private owner, and the new owner of the building doesn’t want to operate a redemption center there.
    “We did lose our redemption center here in Shelby County,” Valline confirmed last week.
    The state’s Beverage Containers Control Law, commonly referred to as the “bottle bill” in Iowa, was developed to reduce and help clean up litter through the recycling and recovery of beverage containers.  All alcoholic and carbonated beverage containers are included.
    When consumers purchase the items they pay a five-cent deposit, which is refunded when returning the container to a store where it was purchased, or at a redemption center.
    In Harlan, The Can Place has operated for decades as the local redemption center, affording consumers a place to take their “empties” instead of back to the store where purchased.  Retailers are required to redeem Iowa empty bottles and cans of the products it sells.
    “It’s not a requirement that your county or community have (a redemption center) yet it certainly is one of those services you’d like to provide,” said Harlan City Administrator Gene Gettys, Jr.

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