The wait at the bottle redemption center on North Hayden Meadows Drive can take up to three hours. And that’s after the miles-long bicycle trek some canners make to get there.

Canning, the practice of collecting recyclable containers for redemption profits, sometimes requires long trips to one of just a handful of Portland area BottleDrops. Many grocery stores stopped accepting cans and bottles when the COVID-19 pandemic struck last year, so canners were forced to travel far from the city center with bags or carts filled with recyclable items. A canner can make up to $35 per visit to the BottleDrop by returning 350 containers, the daily maximum.

“Ghost” pulls a retrofitted cart full of recyclable containers across a bridge to the BottleDrop redemption center on North Hayden Meadows Drive in Portland. He said he collected nearly 800 items over many days, although the limit on redeemable items at BottleDrop is 350 per day.

Greg points out the 10-cents label on a can he plans to recycle. Under Oregon law, consumers pay a 10-cent deposit on most beverage containers, and the deposit is paid back when the container is returned for recycling.

People wait in line at the BottleDrop redemption center in North Portland. On a busy day, people can be waiting for as long as three hours.

Johnathan waits in line next to his bicycle at the BottleDrop redemption center in North Portland. He said the longest he has had to wait in line is three hours.

Mason prepares to carry his bags of recycling to the BottleDrop redemption center in North Portland. He often carries them more than 7 miles. “There are a bunch of little old ladies who leave their recycling out for me to collect,” he said.

A canner secures his load of recyclable items to his bicycle trailer while waiting in line at the BottleDrop redemption center in North Portland.

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This article appears in July 21, 2021.

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