Quad Cities Dispatch/Argus recently issued the following announcement.
People who have been storing their Iowa nickel deposit bottles and cans since March 17 may be able to take them back to their grocery store for redemption on Sunday.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds' first public health emergency order related to the COVID-19 pandemic that went into effect March 17 allowed stores to discontinue acceptance of bottles and cans in the interest of health and safety.
The governor issued a new public health emergency declaration on Friday that extends some provisions of her earlier order, but not the can and bottle suspension.
Beginning Sunday, the statutory requirement resumes.
Hy-Vee is among the grocers that will resume acceptance, Tina Potthoff, senior vice president for corporate communications, confirmed.
Fareway stores will not.
Under the law, stores are not required to take back bottles and cans if there is a redemption center in the area. In the Quad-Cities, there is Eastern Iowa Recyclers at 2844 W. 72nd St. Davenport.
So a store makes its own choice; Hy-Vee, for example, takes bottles and cans as a courtesy for its customers.
Fareway's reasoning for not accepting them is that "accepting potentially contaminated containers inside our stores presents a great risk of harm to the health and safety of our employees and customers," Reynolds W. Cramer, Fareway president and CEO, said in a news release issued Friday.
The Iowa Grocery Industry Association, which has long lobbied to do away with Iowa's "bottle bill," issued a release asking for public support for retailers "who have growing concerns about how to keep their employees and customers safe as the Governor's proclamation on bottle redemption is set to expire 11:59 p.m. July 25."
The association "has concerns about accepting containers for redemption inside stores where there is not adequate space, separation and machines to handle them," association president Michelle Hurd said in a news release.
"Accepting containers inside our stores while we are still dealing with the risks associated with COVID-19 presents an increase risk to the health and safety of our employees and customers," she said.
Stores that are resuming redemption can limit the number of containers per customer and the hours they will be accepted.
Customers of Quad-City stores that are not accepting cans and bottles can take them to Eastern Iowa.
But the business does not accept glass bottles, such as those beer, liquor and wine come in, so buyers of these products either have to keep storing them or forego their nickel deposit by putting them in their recycling bin.
Eastern Iowa Recyclers has not returned repeated requests for comment.
It is unclear under what provision the business has declined to take glass.
The center has been inundated with an abnormal increase in bottles and cans since the governor's first emergency order went into effect in March.
Original source can be found here.
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