To the editor:

Since Gov. Reynolds said that grocery stores don’t have to redeem cans and bottles due to COVID-19, people in cities and towns across central Iowa are struggling to find a place to take their containers. A lot of them are traveling to rural redemption centers like mine. I own and operate a small redemption center in Webster City.

In normal times, we take in 20,000 to 30,000 containers every day. Since grocery stores stopped taking back empties, that’s doubled. Now we’re dealing with up to 50,000 or 60,000 containers daily. We’re a small facility, and are not prepared for that much volume. Sometimes our building fills up with containers, and we have to close in order to process them as quickly as we can. Once that’s done, we open again for our regular hours. This situation has become a hardship for us and for our customers.

There’s no more COVID risk in redeeming cans than going shopping. Allowing grocery stores to cop out on accepting empties just hurts small businesses and our customers.

Tamie Harrison

Owner and Operator, LT

Redemption Center

Webster City