- BY ANNIE MEHL
- Dec 19, 2020
- Dec 19, 2020
- 0
MANCHESTER, Iowa — In less than one month, a redemption center will open again in Manchester.
Can Shed, of Cedar Rapids, will open a satellite facility on Jan. 7 in the back of Manchester’s Unlimited Services Inc.
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A Manchester group that provides vocational and residential services to adults with special needs is out of the can redemption business as of last Friday. And leaders blame the low rates provided by Iowa’s 40-year-old can and bottle deposit law for the decision.
Can Do, run by the Unlimited Services agency in Manchester, began processing plastic bottles and cans for bottlers in 2004. It also provided a training ground for those with limited work experience and especially special needs adults who were part of the Unlimited Services program.
Angi Lawson, owner of Can Do and Unlimited Services, says the business stopped accepting returns at the close of business Friday and will continue processing until the backlog is eliminated.
She says the reaction from longtime customers has been fairly vocal.
“Even today, customers have said instead of the nickel, I’ll take four cents or I’ll take three centers. Something-whatever they can do to support this financially,” Lawson said.
But Lawson said the current one cent fee that processors get for sorting and handling containers just isn’t enough. The fee has remained the same since Iowa’s bottle bill became law in the late 1970s.
She said if the fee were increased to two or three cents, she might be able to stay in business.
Can Do brought in $70,000 last year by handling seven million returnable containers. But expenses during that same time amounted to $120,000.
Seven current workers at Can Do will lose their jobs when the final containers are processed.
Joe Hoeger, who has a son with autism working at the center, said he worries about what the future holds for his son.
“It’s very important for him to learn how to do something. He’s willing to work and loves to stay busy. So without this opportunity for him to work is he going to sit at home in his apartment?” Hoeger said.
Lawson said she is having discussions with others who might be interested in taking over the operation and continuing the redemption business in the Manchester area. But there’s no deal yet.
Lawson said the closing will hit area bars and restaurants the hardest because those businesses depended on the redemption center to handle large volumes of refundable containers.
A few years ago, an Iowa Department of Natural Resources list showed 170 redemption centers operating in Iowa. One center owner in Cedar Rapids believes the total now is below 70 due to no changes in the state’s bottle and can return law.
One state senator expects more discussion of Iowa’s redemption law in the next session of the legislature. But he’s not hopeful of any significant changes, especially an increase in the processing fee for redemption centers.