The bottle recycling machines at Albertsons in Baker City have been getting a workout since the first day of the month.

That’s because the bottle and can refund in Oregon doubled from 5 to 10 cents on April 1.

At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, several people were waiting in line to redeem cans, plastic and glass bottles at the recycling station at Albertsons.

Courtesy Clerk Oliver Diaz was busy tending the two reverse vending machines that accept the cans and bottles and prints a voucher for their value that can be redeemed for cash in the store. The task has taken up virtually all of his time for the first half of his shift, which starts at 6 a.m. He’s the only person tending to the machines until another courtesy clerk comes in at 10 a.m.

“It’s been hectic,” he said. “Right at 6 a.m. people are already lined up waiting. It’s chaos from 6 to 10.”

In 45 minutes, Diaz and another courtesy clerk on duty had to empty the two machines three times Tuesday morning.

Sheila Holman, who collects cans and bottles to defray the expenses of raising and training service dogs for Autism Service Dogs of America, had a pickup truck full of cans and bottles to return.

There was even boxes stacked on the front passenger seat in the cab of the truck full of cans and bottles. Holman had been waiting to return them.

“I’ve been saving them until the 10-cent thing,” she said.

Holman, 63, said she had another truckload of cans and bottles in her barn at her home near Haines. Normally she comes in weekly to redeem what she has collected, but the doubling of the redemption value prompted her to wait. Previously Holman had gotten about $50 for a full pickup load of bottles and cans.

“Now that it’s 10 cents, it’s really good,” she said with a wide grin. “It’s a lot of work pushing them in to the machines. It’s worth it.”

Holman estimated that it would take her two to three hours to redeem the bottles and cans she had brought to the recycling station.

Wendy Thorne, 45, was returning 47 six packs and a barrel full of beer bottles with the help of her friend, Forrest Entermille.

While Entermille fed bottles into the machine, Thorne said she hadn’t saved up the bottles to take advantage of the double bottle refund, but she definitely appreciated getting twice the money she expected.

She was returning the bottles because she was cleaning up the home she was in the process of moving out of.

“I don’t like to leave a lot of trash for the next tenant to deal with,” Thorne said.

She estimated that she would get about $40 for the bottles she was returning. The money was slated to pay for gas in the truck she was using to move and to haul the bottles to the recycle station.

She hoped the higher deposit would inspire people to return more bottles and cans — particularly those who give the money to nonprofit organizations.

“I’d rather see them do that than buy more beer,” Thorne said.

One nonprofit in Baker City is glad the redemption value has doubled. But for Pastor Nathan Neff of the Lighthouse Christian Church it’s not necessarily a boon.

His church has two trailers parked in town — one on Cherry Street next to Safeway and another on Broadway Street near the church — where people can leave cans and bottles. The money helps pay for the church’s youth student activities, including conferences and Bible quizzing competitions they travel to across the country.

See more in the April 5, 2017, issue of the Baker City Herald.