Illinois Grocery To Reinstate Grocery Tax

[storewanderer]

I realized on seltzer for instance it didn't matter much if I bought in OR or WA. OR has no sales tax but hits a bottle deposit. WA has no bottle deposit but hits a sales tax. So net net there is not much difference. Maybe I throw in some random non food item that costs $3 and get hit for sales tax on that but I don't really care about getting hit for 24 cents of sales tax on a $3 item if I'm staying on the WA side (which is what I started doing since COVID) and I forget to get or don't find said item over on the OR side.

Except that if you bought the drinks with no tax but having deposit, you can return the bottles and get the deposit back. You don't get the tax back with an empty bottle

I only return bottles for deposit when there are machines to feed the bottles to readily available. It seems like in OR the machines have been disappearing. CA has hardly any machines and numerous of the recycling centers behind grocery stores closed as the vendor went under or something. It has gotten harder and harder to get your deposit back in these states CA and OR.

[BillyGr]

I realized on seltzer for instance it didn't matter much if I bought in OR or WA. OR has no sales tax but hits a bottle deposit. WA has no bottle deposit but hits a sales tax. So net net there is not much difference. Maybe I throw in some random non food item that costs $3 and get hit for sales tax on that but I don't really care about getting hit for 24 cents of sales tax on a $3 item if I'm staying on the WA side (which is what I started doing since COVID) and I forget to get or don't find said item over on the OR side.

Except that if you bought the drinks with no tax but having deposit, you can return the bottles and get the deposit back. You don't get the tax back with an empty bottle

I only return bottles for deposit when there are machines to feed the bottles to readily available. It seems like in OR the machines have been disappearing. CA has hardly any machines and numerous of the recycling centers behind grocery stores closed as the vendor went under or something. It has gotten harder and harder to get your deposit back in these states CA and OR.

You should check the state's rules - for instance here in NY, any store that sells items with deposit is REQUIRED to take back empties of the type/size they sell.
Most bigger stores (supermarkets etc.) have machines, but you could take them anywhere that sells the item, and they would have to take them, even if that means the cashier puts them behind the counter and gives you the money - otherwise they would get in trouble legally.

I would think that other states would have the same rules, but perhaps they don't - certainly worth a check if someone shops in that state, though.

[Romr123]

Michigan has moved to reverse vending--UPC programmed to reject type/size/brand not sold at the location. Low volume stores (Target, party stores, e.g) still do manual. California doesn't do reverse vending--they have the "recycling centers" although there are weird exceptions (Smart and Final in Palm Springs. One oddity--you cannot crush returns in a reverse vending system (UPC must be read) but you can and are encouraged to in a "center" based system.

[storewanderer]

You should check the state's rules - for instance here in NY, any store that sells items with deposit is REQUIRED to take back empties of the type/size they sell.
Most bigger stores (supermarkets etc.) have machines, but you could take them anywhere that sells the item, and they would have to take them, even if that means the cashier puts them behind the counter and gives you the money - otherwise they would get in trouble legally.

I would think that other states would have the same rules, but perhaps they don't - certainly worth a check if someone shops in that state, though.

OR has this rule. Some stores still have bottle hours though. I have seen customers insist bottles be taken late at night and it is a real problem but it appears someone eventually helps them (like they refuse to leave/move until someone helps them with their bottles). But for a few bottles it isn't worth a significant hassle to collect back 25 cents or something on a trip. If there is a machine I can feed the bottles to in 3 seconds then give the certificate to a cashier in store with my purchase I am up for it.

CA used to have this rule as well or something like it. There used to be signage posted in the windows of all/most stores showing the closest recycling center. As long as there was a recycling center within a certain distance of the (gas station, drug store, grocery store, etc.) then that specific store did not have to accept returns of bottles. The company who operated most of these centers behind grocery stores had financial problems and had to close many locations. The locations always had limited hours. Since that happened the entire program has largely fallen apart from the perspective of being able to return bottles conveniently in your neighborhood. It did not shift to where stores are forced to take bottles back. I have never seen someone try to return bottles inside a retail store in CA the way I have in OR. Like many things in CA the rules are not enforced, of course they keep collecting the CRV from you, but getting it back is more and more difficult.

[veteran+]

You should check the state's rules - for instance here in NY, any store that sells items with deposit is REQUIRED to take back empties of the type/size they sell.
Most bigger stores (supermarkets etc.) have machines, but you could take them anywhere that sells the item, and they would have to take them, even if that means the cashier puts them behind the counter and gives you the money - otherwise they would get in trouble legally.

I would think that other states would have the same rules, but perhaps they don't - certainly worth a check if someone shops in that state, though.

OR has this rule. Some stores still have bottle hours though. I have seen customers insist bottles be taken late at night and it is a real problem but it appears someone eventually helps them (like they refuse to leave/move until someone helps them with their bottles). But for a few bottles it isn't worth a significant hassle to collect back 25 cents or something on a trip. If there is a machine I can feed the bottles to in 3 seconds then give the certificate to a cashier in store with my purchase I am up for it.

CA used to have this rule as well or something like it. There used to be signage posted in the windows of all/most stores showing the closest recycling center. As long as there was a recycling center within a certain distance of the (gas station, drug store, grocery store, etc.) then that specific store did not have to accept returns of bottles. The company who operated most of these centers behind grocery stores had financial problems and had to close many locations. The locations always had limited hours. Since that happened the entire program has largely fallen apart from the perspective of being able to return bottles conveniently in your neighborhood. It did not shift to where stores are forced to take bottles back. I have never seen someone try to return bottles inside a retail store in CA the way I have in OR. Like many things in CA the rules are not enforced, of course they keep collecting the CRV from you, but getting it back is more and more difficult.

My Pavilions has a recycling depot in the parking lot.

[BillyGr]

You should check the state's rules - for instance here in NY, any store that sells items with deposit is REQUIRED to take back empties of the type/size they sell.
Most bigger stores (supermarkets etc.) have machines, but you could take them anywhere that sells the item, and they would have to take them, even if that means the cashier puts them behind the counter and gives you the money - otherwise they would get in trouble legally.

I would think that other states would have the same rules, but perhaps they don't - certainly worth a check if someone shops in that state, though.

My Pavilions has a recycling depot in the parking lot.

That sounds like what the Hannaford chain does in Maine and NY. They have a set up with a company (called Clynk) that collects bottles that customers have bagged and dropped off at the store (some stores have a spot inside or near an entry, others have a shed in the lot like you describe).

The Clynk personnel come every so often, pick up the bags and take them to a sorting facility - each bag is tagged with a code that links to your account, and the money is put into that account once they have been counted/sorted.

You can then pull that money out at any Hannaford location via a machine that prints a receipt to redeem at the service desk or register (with or without purchase).

They still do maintain one machine in each store that takes all items (can, plastic and glass) for those who prefer that or have small quantities (since the bags used are about a 30-gallon trash bag size, thus it might take a long time for some to fill one).

Certainly easier for those with lots of containers (including several local groups that collect bottles as a fundraising option).

[storewanderer]

My Pavilions has a recycling depot in the parking lot.

Over 300 stores lost recycling depots in California when Replanet went under in 2019. Few of those depots have reopened.

When the Replanet centers closed, hundreds/thousands of major retailer locations within the state were supposed to start offering in-store redemption. I have yet to see anyone taking the stores up on that. I will look closer for the window stickers that all of these are supposed to post. Safeway, 7-Eleven, etc.

I don't understand why California has not moved toward automated machines the way other states have. It is as if California does not want people to get their deposits back. The Replanet centers were not very good- open limited hours/days anyway.

I think many consumers have given up and do not try to get their deposit back. Due to recycling programs that are in place that have a lot more recycling bins all over now than back 30 years ago or whenever this program was started, the bottles/cans are often recycled even if consumers do not get the deposit back anyway.