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CalRecycle (officially known as the Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery) issued a news release stating that:

. . . six people face felony recycling fraud and grand theft charges connected to a suspected multi-state scheme to defraud California’s Beverage Container Recycling Program.

The CalRecycle investigators are stated to believe that the suspects illegally smuggled over nine tons of empty bottles and cans from Arizona to the Los Angeles area to fraudulently redeem recycling deposits.

Non-California consumers do not pay California Redemption Value (“CRV”) deposits on beverage purchases. Consequently, such containers are not eligible for CRV redemption.

The California Beverage Container Recycling and Liter Reduction Action provides that specified containers are subject to a CRV. The CRV is five cents for containers less than 24 ounces and 10 cents for containers 24 ounces or larger.

The California Department of Justice’s Division of Law Enforcement along with CalRecycle are stated to have uncovered evidence of the recycling fraud ring over the course of a six-month investigation.

A copy of the news release can be downloaded here and the Felony Complaint for Arrest Warrant here.