Redemption center reopened
After an eight-day hiatus earlier in September, the Nishna Productions redemption center in Red Oak is back in operation.
Nishna Productions executive director Sherri Clark said the temporary closure of the facility was due to a labor force issue.
“We’ve had the redemption center here since the facility opened in 2012. As time has moved forward, we have less client workers to sort the cans and bottles and handle the product as it comes in. We’re required by our funders to move people to jobs in the community. We used to have roughly 25 client workers that could handle the product, and now we’re down to four to 10 client workers on any given day,” Clark said.
Mary Wade, who serves as the coordinator of the redemption center, added that it was only about one day per week when they had 10 client workers present, and the rest of the time, it was less.
Clark said that reduction in their labor force led to the facility taking in more product than it could handle.
“We had taken in so much product that it was stored all over the place, and we didn’t have any room to store any more. We decided that until we had things sorted and ready for the distributor to pick up, we had to close. It took us roughly eight days to catch up,” commented Clark.
Clark said they used volunteer help from a variety of sources.
“We used volunteer regular staff, which means they volunteered to help out, but they were paid time and a half for their work. We can’t afford to do that moving forward. Mary Rolfe volunteered every day to work, and we also had some people from the Rotary who volunteered to help,” said Clark.
Clark said moving forward, the redemption center was facing some issues.
“We’re still operating on the one cent handling fee that’s been in place since the redemption law came into existence. What that means is, you bring in the cans and bottles, we give you five cents per can or bottle, we turn it over to the distributors, and they give us one cent for every item we sort for them,” Clark said. “Obviously that doesn’t keep up with the cost of doing something like this. Through August, we’re roughly $12,000 in the hole. We’ve kept it open, and we’ll try to work with the community, but we have to have community support. We see this as a community service. It’s an opportunity to give back to the community which has supported us. However, there may come a point where we don’t have the finances or labor force to do that. Without us here, they have to travel out of the city to redeem their cans or bottles. As a registered redemption center, we are required to pay the five cents back to the customer.”
Wade said there were a lot of requirements set by distributors as part of the sorting process.
“The vendors require their product to have a certain number of cans or bottles inside their bags, and have to be sorted by brand, and by size. There’s a lot that goes into handling it just to get a penny back. There’s sign after sign after sign on the wall. Some of the distributors sell seasonal beverages as well, so there’s a lot of learning as we go with what goes where,” Wade advised.
According to Wade, another factor causing an increase in their can volume has been the closure of other redemption centers.
“We were able to keep up with the volume much more easily until those closures. We get people form as far as outside Council Bluffs, and folks from Corning, Shenandoah, and Clarinda, because there are no others that operate like ours, and because our facility is so clean,” said Wade.
Clark said they were doing everything possible to keep the redemption center available for the community.
“We have people tell us if we’re not open, it’s going to end up back in the landfill, or the ditches, or the grocery stores will have to take it back. All that is true. If we’re not here, the grocery stores will have to take it back, which can cause them health and sanitary issues. It’s easier for us to handle, and I believe our redemption center is the cleanest in the state of Iowa. When we built this new building, we made a commitment to make it a nice, air-conditioned work environment and it’s cleaned thoroughly every day,” Clark said.
Clark said the redemption center’s operation was subsidized through other areas, but that wasn’t a long-term fix.
“We have to use the money we make in other places to keep it going, and as our funding in other areas becomes tighter, it’s much more difficult for us to be able to do that,” Clark commented.
The Iowa Statehouse has discussed increasing the handling fee paid to redemption centers year after year, but so far, the handling fee remains at a penny. Clark speculated that pushback to making changes to the redemption laws were due to grocery stores and distributors were over fears new things would be added to the law, such as plastic water bottles.
“I’ve been doing this for a lot of years. When the redemption law first came into effect, there were sheltered workshops like this all over the state. Now there are very few of us left doing this business, because the rules and things we do and where we’re supposed to have people working have all changed. Also, redemption centers in general have a bad reputation due to cleanliness issues. Not all of them are like ours, which we clean regularly,” said Clark.
Clark said they are seeking volunteer help in the redemption center, but said anyone who comes in to work while their clients are working would have to submit to a background check, due to Medicaid regulations.
“To simplify the process, we would ask non-paid volunteers to work while the clients are not here. So we would love to have volunteers come in and work for us. They can come in on a Saturday, or during the week. All they need to do is coordinate with Mary Wade by calling 623-4362, extension 205,” Clark said.
Clark said residents can also donate to the redemption center, they simply need to advise that the donation is for the redemption center, and Nishna Productions will acknowledge the donation. Folks dropping off cans are limited to 500 cans per trip. Wade said if they reach the limit of 500 cans and there’s a half a table left, they will go ahead and sort them, but if they still have several bags left, they’ll have to be dropped off another day.