A trucker is facing between 6 months and three years in prison on charges that he was attempting to haul out-of-state recyclables into California in order to cash in on the redemption fee.
While a couple of cents might not be much for recycling just one bottle, when you’re hauling 7,000 pounds of empty bottles and cans, that can equal an estimated $11,000 in redemptions. Authorities claim that the trucker was hauling the recyclables from Arizona to California in an attempt to defraud the state.
The driver took a 70-mile detour around a state checkpoint in Blythe, Arizona to avoid notice before crossing in to California, but the Department of Justice recycling fraud agents (yes, that exists) noticed the vehicle in Phoenix and followed it.
Once the driver was stopped, he was charged with felony recycling fraud, attempted grand theft, and conspiracy.
Source: pe, latimes, waste360, recyclingtoday
Kermit always said “It’s not easy being green…”
Bwahahaha!!!
So he was flagrantly breaking the law and this isn’t just another “poor trucker VS the man” story?
Lol. You think that’d be suspicious anyway. Just waltzing into the Walmart bottle return with a semi full of bottles.
I hate doing bottle return as is, I’d be driven nuts having to return that many bottles over an amount of time that wouldn’t draw suspicion.
I hope you’re not serious in your comment….
I thought California cared about the environment….they should love stuff like this. The more recycling the better, right? LOL
Wonder if the driver was an O/O or a company driver? A driver would have to be really stupid to do something for his company that would get them a ticket or arrested. And if an O/O then he has just lost everything.
so what is the statute of limitation on this crime? I may or may not have returned a couple dozen out of state can in MI during my wild youth.
Yeah right lol. He’s a wild one for sure lol.
How exactly did he get that many bottles and cans in the first place? I can’t imagine that he either 1) drank that much himself, or 2) Went dumpster to dumpster to collect them himself. But if so, I say let him have his $11000.
The more likely option is that he got them from a place of collection/recycling that intended to process them and get money for them, in which case it’s basically theft, regardless of exact law you use to prosecute.
On another note, the DoJ Recycling Fraud Aents must have had a field day, using this incident to justify their existence.
Nothing new….heard a few years ago that people would use their food stamps (in CA-their Golden Card) to buy cases of bottled water, take it out back, empty them and return the empties to the store for $.