Bottle redemption center coming to Bend

The newest BottleDrop Redemption Center will open in north Salem on Thursday, one in a growing number of such facilities that soon will include Bend.

The new Salem facility, operated by Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC), is located at 1917 Lancaster Dr. NE.

BottleDrop will allow area consumers to redeem their bottles and cans quickly and efficiently in a fully staffed facility seven days a week from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., officials said Monday.

The new 7,000-square-foot facility will employ about eight people and offer three convenient ways to redeem Oregon deposit containers:

Hand Count- Staff will count up to 50 containers per day.
Self-Serve- New reverse vending machines will accept up to 350 containers per day.
EZ Drop System- Fill pre-labeled bags with deposit containers and drop off 24 hours a day. BottleDrop staff will count and sort the containers. The cash value will be credited into an account which can be accessed at participating retail store kiosks or any BottleDrop location.

Earlier this month, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission approved a BottleDrop Redemption Center at 755 NE Second Street in Bend.

“We’re working to modernize the 42-year-old bottle bill by changing from a ‘return-to-retail’ structure to a more efficient, user-friendly redemption center model,” says John Andersen,president of OBRC. “This is part of our ongoing effort to increase Oregon’s redemption rates and deliver a positive experience to consumers.”

BottleDrop Centers are operated and funded by OBRC in partnership with participating grocery retailers. Stores within 1.5 miles of the new redemption center will no longer be required to accept deposit containers after October 9th. Grocers within 2.75 miles of the facility will accept a maximum of 24 containers per day.

In Salem, that means: No Longer Accepting Containers

Food-4-Less at 3695 Devonshire Ct.
Fred Meyer at 3740 Market st. NE
Safeway at 3380 Lancaster Dr. NE
Roth’s at 702 Lancaster Dr. NE.

Accepting 24 Containers Per Day

Fred Meyer at 2855 Broadway st. NE
Roth’s at 4746 Portland Rd NE
Safeway at 1265 Center St NE
Winco Foods at 1240 Lancaster Dr. SE.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which governs the Oregon deposit law, unanimously approved the statewide rollout of the BottleDrop Redemption Center concept based upon success of three pilot redemption centers in Wood Village, Oregon City and south Salem.

OBRC has recently opened a fourth BottleDrop facility in NE Portland and plans to open additional locations in Gresham, Bend and Eugene within the next six months.

OBRC is a member-owned, cooperative corporation that acts on behalf of beverage distributors to administer Oregon’s bottle bill; collecting and processing 98 percent of all containers sold and redeemed in Oregon. OBRC counts, sorts, crushes, bales and recycles those containers.

The entire process is funded and managed by the beverage and grocery retail industries – at no cost to taxpayers, the organizers said.

More information: http://www.bottledropcenters.com/home