Shannon Moller (right), of Center Redemption in Dubuque, gives Iowa Rep. Chuck Isenhart a tour of the facility on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022.

Shannon Moller (right), of Center Redemption in Dubuque, gives Iowa Rep. Chuck Isenhart a tour of the facility on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022.

Changes to Iowa’s bottle deposit law are expected to reshape how wholesalers and redemption centers handle the return of beverage containers, but its exact impacts locally remain to be seen.

Under the law, consumers pay a 5-cent deposit when they buy carbonated and alcoholic beverages and get 5 cents back when they return the container to a store or redemption center.

The new version of the law, parts of which went into effect last month, exempts stores from having to accept containers if they are in a county with at least 30,000 people and within 10 miles of a redemption center or in a county with fewer than 30,000 people and within 15 miles of a redemption center.

The new law also will exempt stores that prepare and serve food, which would include nearly all wholesalers of products in bottles and cans. That part of the law takes effect Jan. 1.

Shannon Moller, who co-owns Center Redemption in Dubuque, said work there has been “chaos” since the COVID-19 pandemic started and stores temporarily were exempt from having to accept cans.

“It’s like that from the time we open to the time we close,” she said. “We’re putting 400 customers through the door in six hours.”

Inflation has driven demand up even more, Moller said.

“Every other person we have in here says, ‘It’s going right to groceries or my gas tank or medicine I need,’” she said.

Eagle Country Market is the only grocery store in Dubuque currently accepting cans. Hy-Vee has a contract with Center Redemption, which exempts those stores. Fareway did not resume accepting cans after the pandemic exemption ended.

“We do probably close to $3,000 (in refunds to customers) a week,” said Eagle Country Market General Manager Jeff Reiter. “I understand that part of that is because we’re this end of town and people don’t want to go to the center because we’re close.”

Officials from Hy-Vee and Fareway did not respond to requests for comment.

Reiter said he is excited to be exempt from the process. However, that would mean can redemptions in town would have to go through Center Redemption, where Moller already has had to scale back the business’ large-quantity drop-off service due to demand and staffing.

Center Redemption currently employs 13 people, but Moller needs eight more. Finding more workers has been made difficult because the fee redemption centers receive for processing containers long has been 1 cent per container, she said.

However, the new law increases that redemption rate to 3 cents effective Jan. 1 — a silver lining for Moller.

“We’re appreciative of it,” she said. “But you hold your breath and hope it’s enough with inflation the way it is.”

The varied dates at which parts of the law take effect and other language in it have left some people confused about the new rules, including Reiter and Mary Ann Renner, owner of Can City in Maquoketa.

“I’ve called other redemption centers,” Renner said. “All we know is the grocery stores are out soon. The state hasn’t told us anything.”

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