(ABC 6 News) — For years, Iowans were able to return their cans and bottles for a five-cent deposit at the store they purchased them from.

But, since the passage of the latest “Bottle Bill” in 2022, (later coming into effect in 2023) many retailers have taken the option to opt out of redemption altogether, leaving north Iowa’s few standalone redemption centers busier than ever.

In Manly, Jill Grandon owns and operates Manly Redemption Center, where most of her returns are regular clients like bar & restaurant pickup, she’s still up to her elbows in the public’s returned cans and bottles.

“If you look at the map, there are gaps in redemption center placement right here in North Iowa, where you can go on the road. And I mean, you can make a living just doing cans.”

Just weeks after the unexpected closure of North Iowa Team Redemption Center in Mason City, a new center has taken shape to fill that gap and take your empties: Staci Buys Cans.

“When I see an aluminum cans in someone’s garbage, it’s heartbreaking, to be honest,” Staci Herrera said.
“Because that can be recycled over and over again. So can glass.”

Herrera has three employees, and uses a camera/scanner paired with A.I. photo recognition to count the cans in a fraction of the time it would take to sort and count by hand.

“It makes it so streamlined,” Herrera said. “You can’t even compare it to hand counting, it’s so fast.”

Staci Buys Cans is located at the site of the former Decker plant, 300 15th St. NE in Mason City.