WYOMING, Mich. (WOOD) — Millions of unredeemed dollars are stuck at Michigan homes because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There are $8 to $10 million in dimes in people’s garages (per week and growing) right now — at least we hope they’re in people’s garages,” said Roger Cargill of Schupan Recycling.
That cash is in the form of can and bottle deposits, waiting to be returned as soon as store recycling centers reopen.
An executive order by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last month led to the closure of can return areas to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Two days later on March 27, Schupan Recycling, one of Michigan’s major bottle and can processors, idled its facilities in Wyoming and Wixom. Now, the company waits — and so do nervous bottling companies.
The supply chain for aluminum cans is short. Cargill says the entire process, from bottle return machine back to the store shelf, takes about 60 days. That means if recycling doesn’t restart soon, aluminum sheet can companies will likely start switching their supply chain from the specialized aluminum alloy of recycled cans to raw aluminum, which will cost more.
(An undated courtesy photo from Schupan Recycling shows a TOMRA reverse vending machine, which will support a touchless sytem when return areas reopen. Once the bin is full of containers, store personnel pull the box out from under the machine, place a lid on the bin and never handle the contents.) 
(The bin is loaded into a semi-truck and sent to a Schupan Recycling facility in Wixom or Wyoming for processing. When the trailer arrives the box from the store is unloaded with a forklift and placed on a conveyor belt. The box then follows the conveyor belt to a dumping step as shown in this courtesy photo from Schupan Recycling.) 
(Once the cans and bottles are dumped from the bin, they are mechanically sorted by material and color. Photo courtesy: Schupan Recycling) 
(After processing and sorting, aluminum cans and plastic bottles are baled separately and prepared for market. Photo courtesy: Schupan Recycling)
But the cost is already there for Michigan’s more vulnerable populations.
“Our big concern would be there are those people who count on that dime, and they’re going to really suffer,” Cargill said.
SURGING STORE SALES
Shoppers clearing grocery shelves aren’t helping the dwindling supply of recycled aluminum cans.
A representative for Michigan’s soft drink industry confirmed store sales increased at the start of the pandemic and continue to be strong.
But it’s not all good news for the beverage industry. The representative said sales to Michigan restaurants dropped since a state order shut down their dining areas. He also said the beverage industry will “feel the pinch” when recycling centers reopen and they have to pay for each container returned and processed.
RETOOLING RETURN MACHINES
Cargill says while processing has come to a standstill, employees at Schupan Recycling aren’t sitting around.
“We are just doing our best to prepare,” he told News 8.
Cargill says the company that makes the can deposit machines, TOMRA, also operates out of Schupan Recycling’s buildings. Right now, TOMRA is in the process of switching over its machine software to a touchless system for shoppers.
Screen prompts will guide customers through the new post-pandemic experience. The machine will spit out their receipt about 10 to 15 seconds after they stop feeding it returnables, eliminating the need to touch any potentially contaminated surface of the machine.
Cargill says TOMRA is offering to staff store can return areas when they reopen to quickly resolve any issues until Michigan passes the big hump in deposits.
“There are $8 to $10 million in dimes in people’s garages right now — at least we hope they’re in people’s garages.”
– Roger Cargill, Schupan Recycling
As for Schupan Recycling, Cargill says the company is planning longer shifts, processing cans and bottles 24 hours a day to try to rebuild the supply of recycled aluminum and plastic beverage companies need.
“We just want to be a good partner to our retailers,” he added.
BOTTLE BILL BREAKDOWN
Michigan is one of only 10 states with a bottle bill law.
Lawmakers enacted the program in 1978 to incentivize recycling and it’s worked: Twenty years later, Michigan’s can recycle rate still hovered around 97%.
>>PDF: Michigan Bottle Bill FAQ
Michigan’s bottle and can recycling rate has since dipped to 89% in 2018, possibly because the value of the dime has diminished over time. Cargill says Michigan’s can deposit amount would have to jump to nearly 33 cents each to have the same buying power.
So what happens to all of the money Michigan shoppers pay in cans that they never refund? The state moves it into an escheats fund which primarily pays for environmental cleanups. About a quarter of the escheats fund is returned to retailers to offset the cost of the bottle return program.
