Prineville’s first BottleDrop Express bag drop location opens at Erickson’s Thriftway
PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Recycling Oregon’s 10-cent redeemable beverage containers just got much easier for Prineville area residents and nonprofits, thanks to the arrival of a BottleDrop Express Green and Blue Bag drop location at Erickson’s Thriftway, located at 315 NW 3rd Street.
The new BottleDrop Express site officially opened to the public on Thursday, becoming Prineville’s first Green and Blue Bag drop location, and Central Oregon’s seventh.
“Oregon’s Bottle Bill has been a big part of our state’s environmental and recycling legacy for decades,” said State Senator Lynn Findley. “I have been a strong advocate for the expansion of easy return options like this in Central and Eastern Oregon, and I’m thrilled to see the progress.”
Through the Green and Blue Bag programs, individuals (via Green Bags) and nonprofits (via Blue Bags) can conveniently redeem containers in bulk, placing redeemable metal, plastic, and glass beverage containers all in the same bags and dropping them off at any BottleDrop bag drop location in Oregon, instead of redeeming them one container at a time.
Customers place unique QR code bag tag stickers onto their bags, which associate the contents of those bags with the customer’s BottleDrop account. Bags are counted and credited to customer accounts within seven days - often more quickly.
“I’m excited that this convenient container return option is now available in Prineville,” said House Republican Leader, Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson, who represents the community in the State Legislature. “I advocated for this return option because the easier it is for residents to redeem and recycle containers, the more we can help keep the community pristine.”
Consumer convenience has sparked rapid growth in the program. Last year, over 927,000 BottleDrop account holders dropped off more than 11.4 million Green and Blue Bags in Oregon. There are currently over 2,600 BottleDrop account holders located within 10 miles of the new drop location in Prineville, who collectively dropped off over 28,000 bags of beverage containers to be redeemed and recycled in the past year, claiming more than $203,000 in OR 10-cent refunds.
“We are all about convenience and community at Erickson’s Thriftway,” said John Amodeo, store manager. “This new bag drop location will make returning containers easier than ever for our Prineville area customers, and we’re thrilled to partner with OBRC to make it happen.”
Existing BottleDrop account holders can now use this new BottleDrop Express location just like they currently use the bag drop doors at the Redmond and Bend BottleDrop Redemption Centers, and the BottleDrop Express sites located in Bend (Bend Fred Meyer and 3rd Street Albertsons), La Pine (Ray’s Food Place), and Sisters (Ray’s Food Place).
“Oregon’s Bottle Bill has the highest redemption rate in the nation, and that’s a direct result of convenient options for Oregonians to redeem their containers,” said Eric Chambers, vice president of strategy and outreach at the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative. “We couldn’t be more excited to help bring that convenience to Prineville.”
New customers can sign up for a BottleDrop account online, through the mobile app (search for “BottleDrop Account” in the App Store or on Google Play), or through the BottleDrop kiosk located at any bag drop location (including inside Erickson’s Thriftway). Green Bags are also now available for purchase at Erickson’s Thriftway (and at all bag drop locations), and customers can print their bag tag stickers at the store’s BottleDrop kiosk as well.
Area nonprofits and their supporters can also participate, supercharging their bottle and can fundraising drives through the Blue Bag Program. The Blue Bag program allows nonprofits to set up fundraising accounts with BottleDrop and distribute Blue Bags to their supporters. Just like the Green Bag program, fundraisers are given unique bag tag QR code stickers to place on their bags, which ensure that the funds from those containers are credited to the nonprofit’s BottleDrop account.
BottleDrop is operated by OBRC, which introduced the bulk Green and Blue Bag redemption program in Oregon in 2010, as a convenient and efficient bottle and can recycling option. The program has grown each year since, with over 927,000 BottleDrop account holders and over 5,500 Oregon nonprofits currently participating in the program. Erickson’s Thriftway in Prineville is the 97th bag drop location in BottleDrop’s statewide network.
How does BottleDrop’s Green Bag system work?
BottleDrop account holders purchase designated bags for a small fee and print bag tag stickers with QR codes linking their bags to their accounts at the kiosks located on site at all bag drop locations. Customers then fill the bags with redeemable bottles and cans and drop them off at any BottleDrop location statewide. BottleDrop will count the containers and credit the account within seven days. There are a number of convenient ways account holders can spend their redemption funds:
- Withdraw them for cash at Erickson’s Thriftway or at any BottleDrop kiosk;
- Save for education by linking their BottleDrop Account with an Oregon College Savings Plan Account; or,
- Donate to a charity of their choice through BottleDrop Give.
About BottleDrop and the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative
The Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) is the industry steward of Oregon’s nationally recognized beverage container redemption system and the operator of the BottleDrop network. Headquartered in Clackamas, Ore., OBRC is a statewide, not-for-profit cooperative, formed by beverage distributors to operate Oregon’s renowned Bottle Bill program. OBRC helps keep Oregon beautiful by providing outstanding services to partners, distributors, retailers and the public for the recovery, reuse and recycling of beverage containers. Through OBRC’s BottleDrop Redemption Centers and container pickup service for more than 2,000 retail partners, the co-op recycles around two billion beverage containers annually, protecting the Oregon we love, supporting the causes we cherish, and inspiring innovation beyond our borders, to create a world where no resource is wasted – all without a penny of state funding. To learn more, visit BottleDrop.com or OBRC.com.
