Orange County Grand Jury • 2021-2022 • Agency Response
Response to: Where Have All the CRVs Gone? 06/28/22

[email protected]*

Published: September 13, 2022 3 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 3 findings

F1
Due to the reduced availability of convenient CRV redemption sites and the lack of accurate online information, it is difficult for resident consumers to redeem CRV fees. Response: The Respondent partially disagrees with the findings. The City of Stanton has a public buyback recycling center located within City limits, operated by CR&R. The facility accepts CRV beverage containers for redemption, and accurate information on the recycling center is easily found online. However, based on the information provided in the report, this finding may be true for other residents throughout Orange County.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
By January of 2023, each of the cities in Orange County should research and apply for available grants or pilot programs from CalRecycle for their community that focus on returning more CRV funds to their residents. Response: The recommendation has been implemented. The City of Stanton regularly applies for, receives, and utilizes CalRecycle's Beverage Container Recycling Grant Program on an annual basis. Additionally, the City reviews and applies for similar grants for which the City is eligible.
F2
Because redemption site locations have diminished in number, waste haulers are the beneficiaries to the CRV fees paid originally by resident consumers. Response: The Respondent partially disagrees with the findings. Without additional data for all 33 Orange County cities, it is difficult to affirm this finding is reflective of each city's situation; however, based on the information provided in the report, there are trends that support the finding. Community Pride & Forward Vision
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
By January of 2023, the Orange County Board of Supervisors should require OC Waste & Recycling to research and apply for available grants or pilot programs from CalRecycle for the unincorporated areas of OC that focus on returning more CRV funds to their residents. Response: The recommendation will not be implemented because it is not reasonable. The City of Stanton will not implement this recommendation because both the Agency (OC Waste & Recycling) and the focus areas (unincorporated Orange County) are not within the City's jurisdiction, control, or authority. Community Pride & Forward Vision
F3
CalRecycle is attempting to improve CRV redemption and reduce CRV recyclables from landfills and are offering financial incentives to do so. Orange County and its cities are not fully taking advantage of the grant or pilot program opportunities available through CalRecycle. Response: The Respondent partially disagrees with the findings. The City of Stanton seeks out and applies for CalRecycle programs and grants for which the City is eligible. Without additional data for all 33 Orange County cities, it is difficult to affirm this finding is reflective of each city's situation.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
When renegotiating their current waste hauler contract, all cities and the County of Orange should assess the value of the CRV funds received by the waste hauler in their jurisdiction and creatively leverage this revenue for the benefit of their residents. Response: This recommendation has not yet been implemented, but will be implemented in the future. The City is currently negotiating a new Franchise Agreement with its waste and recycling hauler and will review CRV funds and revenues as part of the overall process.

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.