Anyone here actually returned bottles for CRV in the Sacramento area?
I have a decent pile of plastic bottles and cans sitting in the garage and I have never taken any of it in for a refund before. Not sure what to expect in terms of sorting, wait times, or how the payout is calculated. Has anyone here gone through this locally and can share how it usually works?
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I looked into this a while back because I had the same question about whether it was worth the trip. From what I gathered, the CRV deposit is added when you buy an eligible beverage container, and you can redeem that value afterward by bringing the containers back. The payout is not a flat number, it depends on material, size, weight, eligibility, and whatever rate is posted that day, so two similar loads can pay out differently. Places that take CRV aluminum, plastic, and glass tend to be the most practical since you are not splitting the load across locations. If you want the details spelled out, the page on recycling plastic bottles for money covers how the deposit and processing side works. Practically speaking, keeping labels visible and sorting beforehand seems to speed things up a lot. Some spots in Citrus Heights also run small rate bumps on certain weekdays, which matters more if you are bringing in aluminum in volume. I would call ahead and check current posted rates before loading the car, since those change and there is no point driving out on a slow day.