New BottleDrop facility is now open in North Bend
NORTH BEND, Ore. — A new BottleDrop Redemption Center is now open in North Bend.
Coos Bay and North Bend mayors were on hand for the ribbon cutting Wednesday, along with other local and state officials.
It's located at 1701 Newmark Street in North Bend.
The facility, which serves both cities, has a new bulk counting device called the Stream Count AI on site, only the second in the state, which counts large amounts of containers instantly.
Eric Chambers with the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) says it's the first full-service redemption center in the community.
"That comes with a number of advantages. Customers can bring 350 containers per day in instead of 144. They can sign up for the super easy Green Bag Program where you put glass, plastic, metal containers all in the same bag. You put a sticker on it that associates it with your account. You drop it off here at this facility, and the funds are automatically uploaded to your account."
Chambers says Oregon's redemption rate is about 80 percent each year, beating the national average of 33 percent.
He says this better enables residents to get their 10-cent refund and cuts down on litter.
The state averages 2 billion containers returned each year.
