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I I Bottlewashing Feasibility Study

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Clean shington

Center

nd Economic Development

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Bottlewashing Feasibility Study

FINAL REPORT

Prepared for

THE CLEAN WASHINGTON CENTER

a division of the Department of Community, Trade & Economic Development

2001 Sixth Avenue, Suite 2700

Seattle, Washington 98121

September 1993

Prepared by

Dames & Moore Inc.

500 Market Place Tower

2025 First Avenue

Seattle, WA 98121

This recycledpaper is recyclable

Copyright 031993 by Clean Washington Center

Report No. GL-93-8

1

Recyclers in Washington are faced with a glut of green glass with no viable markets. This excess material poses economic problems for recycling programs throughout the state. Most of the oversupply comes from wine and imported beer bottles. The only current market for green bottle glass for recyclers is Fibres International in South Seattle, where it is accepted at no charge, and Owens Brockway in Portland, who pays $10 per ton, f.0.b. delivered. Approximately 10,000 tons of green glass were collected in Washington recycling programs in 1992. Because of the difficult economics, some counties, especially those most remote from Seattle or Portland, have stopped collecting glass. Other communities are considering dropping green glass from recycling programs.

Encore Environmental Glass in Richmond, California, has been washing wine bottles for over eighteen years and reselling them to California wine producers. In 1992, Encore washed over 6000 tons of glass, or 9,000,000 bottles. With the success of Encore to look io as a practical demonstration of the feasibility of this type of operation, this paper presents a model for a bottlewashing plant in Washington. The model encompasses all dimensions of such a facility, including operational details, physical plant, corporate structure, and a possible timeline for implementation. This study contains many details which may not be of interest to the casual reader. For a person seriously considering this as a business, however, all operational details and issues should be fully understood.

This project presents the possibility for an industry to take responsibility for its own packaging, while saving money for itself and the taxpayers, creating jobs, and mitigating an environmental problem. Bottle bills have been introduced and defeated numerous times in Washington. This paper introduces a model for a

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refillable strategy which would not require retailers to handle materials or money, and would be a net economic benefit to each business handling the bottles.

Approximately 50,000,000 750 ml wine bottles are sold annually in Washington. The state's wine industry, consisting of more than 80 wineries, fills approximately the same number of bottles. Approximately 50% of the wine produced in Washington is sold within the state. The level of consumption in the state and the size of the industry make Washington one of the few states in which this type of operation could be attempted. If a bottlewashing business were able to recover, wash, and refill 2,000,000 of those bottles and sell them at a net $1 .OO per case saving to the wine producers, the business would have sales of about $700,000, would produce a greater than $150,000 saving for the industry, net $150,000 in extra revenue to the recyclers from whom the bottles are purchased, create eight jobs with total annual benefits exceeding $200,000, and save Washington taxpayers more than $50,000 annually by avoiding the cost of disposing of 1500 tons of green glass.

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CORPORATE STRUCTUR F

An interesting possible structure for a bottlewashing facility would be as a producer's cooperative of the wine producers of Washington. Such a cooperative might not only wash bottles for resale to members and others, but also offer other services to member wineries, possibly including acting as a bottle and supply purchasing cooperative for small and medium size wineries. The wineries themselves, who are in the best position to determine their own needs, would control the services of such a cooperative. A skilled operations manager would be needed for daily operations.

Certain advantages are offered by the Internal Revenue Service for corporations structured as producer cooperatives. Rather than attempting to interpret these advantages, Gxgwatives in is quoted in the following paragraphs:

, by David W. Cobra (Prentice Hall, 1989)

A cooperative is a user-owned and user-controlled business that distributes benefits on the basis of use. More specifically, it is distinguished from other businesses by three concepts or principles: First, the use-owner principle. . . . Second, the user-control principle.

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, . . Third, the user-benefits principle. Benefits of the cooperative are distributed to its users on the basis of their use (page 1).

The most distinguishing financial benefit is the distribution of net income, usually the larger part, in the form of patronage refunds. In other words, most net income is distributed to patrons or customers on the basis of business volume, not to owners on the basis of investment. Some net income may be retained as retained earnings in a manner similar to other businesses. Some may also be distributed to owners in the form of dividends on their investment

Net income of farmer cooperatives is generally taxed according to the single-tax principle. This principle, recognized by subchapter T of the Internal Revenue Code, insures that cooperative net income is usually taxed at either the cooperative or patron level, but not both. Subchapter T provides that, in addition to deductions allowed other businesses, certain distributions of cooperative net income or allocations paid patrons should be excluded by cooperatives in determining taxable income. . . . Patronage refunds and per-unit capital retains that patrons do not agree to include in their taxable income are called non-qualified. A cooperative must include nonqualified allocations in its taxable income, but it can deduct cash redemptions on nonqualified allocations. Patrons include redemptions of nonqualified allocations in their taxable income. . . . Subchapter T specifies additional distributions that may be deducted by cooperatives meeting conditions specified under section 521 of the code. These cooperatives, commonly called exempt or section 521 cooperatives, deduct nonpatronage income distributed to patrons on a patronage basis and dividends on capital stock from taxable income (page 305).

. . . subchapter T treatment is not restricted to agricultural cooperatives. Almost any business that chooses to distribute income to patrons on the basis of patronage and according to a preexisting obligation can exclude this income from its taxable income (page 303).

To qualify under section 521, a cooperative must meet the following requirements: 1) It must be a farmer, grower, or similar association organized and operated on a cooperative basis to (a) market farm products or (b) provide farm supplies and equipment. 2) If organized on a capital stock basis, substantially all of the cooperative's voting stock must be owned by agricultural producers

(Page 18).

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who market farm products or purchase supplies through a cooperative. 3) Dividends on capital stock are limited to 8% per annum or the legal rate in the state in which the cooperative is incorporated, if greater. 4) Financial reserves of the cooperative must not exceed those that are necessary or required by the law. 5) marketing business and no more than 50% of its purchasing business with nonmembers. 6) Nonmembers must be treated in the same manner as members with respect to business transactions such as pricing, pooling, payment of sales proceeds, or allocation of patronage refunds. 7) The cooperative must maintain permanent records of the patronage and equity increases of all members and nonmembers (page 294).

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The cooperative must conduct no more than 50% of its _.~_

Additional research would, of course, need to be done if a group of wine producers chose to implement any part of this plan. This section merely suggests a possible status with certain advantages of cooperation.

blABll ITY Upon first consideration of bottlewashing, liability is an issue which immediately comes to mind for many people. Both Owens Brockway and Ball lncon have told the author that their wine bottles are not designed to be washed. In the collection study, however, no difference in gauge was seen between domestic and European bottles. In Europe, wine bottle washing is common (see Chaplin 92).

The Glass Packaging Institute also stated that wine bottles are not made to be washed. The author asked GPI representatives twice for technical backup for the statement. To date, none has been received. Wine being a non-pressurized liquid, explosion from stress fracture of microscopic scratches is not a possibility. The existence of Encore and the fact that they have washed over 100,000,000 bottles is testimony to the level of quality achievable. In addition, both Ranier and Henry Weinhard are washing and refilling standard beer bottles in the Northwest, without apparent problems with liability.

Lack of proper inspection resulting in items remaining in shipped bottles is a higher probability than explosion. For this reason, quality is a critical issue for the operation. The operations section of this paper addresses the quality issue. In

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addition, the washed bottles will be observed at the winery afler they are filled, providing, in effect, an additional inspection before they reach the consumer.

Nonetheless, any group or individual deciding to pursue this project as a business opportunity should realize that they will face the verbal opposition of the bottle

shrinking market shares and pressure from the public to use more recycled content in the manufacture of their product. It may be possible for an amicable arrangement to be structured, with the up-front cooperation of the glass industry, the wine producers, and recyclers, to promote glass as the 100% recyclable and refillable package, and wine as the 100% natural product.

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manufacturing industry. The glass bottle manufacturers, however, are faced with . _

COLLECTlON All of the people with experience in this kind of business interviewed for this report indicated that the most difficult part of creating a bottlewashing business would be developing the infrastructure to collect enough used bottles for the critical mass required for profitability. In order to collect data on the variety of wine bottles in the waste stream, to obtain a sense of the kinds of collection schemes which would work, and to gain practical experience in bottle sorting, a pilot collection program was sponsored by the Clean Washington Center on Mercer Island from March 1 through May 1, 1993. In eight weeks over 4500 bottles were collected and sorted. Collection bins with signs were left at the following:

two supermarkets three restaurants one liquor store the Mercer Island Recycling Center.

All 750 ml bottles were accepted. Sixteen bottle types were identified as being available in significant enough quantities for sorting. The results are shown in figure 1 . Approximately 80 percent of the "odd" bottles were from imported wines which were slightly different from the domestic bottles in either color or shape. Encore accepts only domestic bottles. It is suggested that a Washington operator do the same. If the imported bottles are subtracted from the odd category, the seven most popular bottles comprise about 75 percent of the collected material. It may be wise for a Washington bottlewashing plant to begin with these seven varieties.

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IYfU c la re t burgundy hock c la re t burgundy burgundy burgundy c la re t hock c la re t burgundy hock sherry c la re t burgundy c la re t

Enlnr punt deadleaf green punt green

green deadleaf green dark green light green clear green clear green

punt clear amber green clear clear(green tinge)

punt smoke

odd

t o t a l

oumber 783 654 525 371 337 31 6 203 165 104

73 65 60 54 46 41

a5

624

4,506

oercent 17%

12% 8% P / O

P / O

4% 2% 2010 2% 1% 1% 1 Yo 1% 1%

15%

5%

rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 1 12 13 14 15 16

figure 1.

Despite a local newspaper article on the bottle collection program and with the help of the local high school recycling group, the retail establishments collected virtually no used bottles during this study. It is apparent that, without a deposit system, retail customers will not remember to return wine bottles to retail stores.

which, an Italian restaurant, accumulated about 100 bottles per week, split about evenly between domestic and imported wines.

Most of the bottles were collected at the recycling center and the restaurants, one of -

The Mercer Island study resulted in the conclusion that a bottlewashing plant will need to gather bottles from public drop-off centers, recyclers, and restaurants.

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Restaurants have been receptive to free pickup of their wine bottles in order to reduce their solid waste and to participate in an environmental project. Retail stores, in general, will probably not be viable collection centers for used bottles.

Encore says that about 50% of its bottles to wash come from the wineries themselves; from corrupted batches, wines made for blends, and tasting parlors. If this is true of local Washington wineries, obtaining a large number of used bottles from the wineries themselves would help both in terms of having a dependable source of raw material and in creating economies from backhauling dirty bottles from the wineries to the washing plant.

A group of members of the Yakima Valley Wine Growers Association have already been sending their used bottles to Covey Run Winery for consolidation and shipment to Encore in California. The purpose of the collection is simply to see the bottles go for re-use. The first shipment of about 25,000 bottles was sent in early 1993, representing approximately six months of casual bottle collection among the wineries in the Yakima area. This effort represents the potential cooperation of the wineries on the collection side.

HAULING Developing the infrastructure to collect a critical mass of bottles to wash will require recyclers or the bottlewashing plant to create relationships with haulers to economically transport used bottles to the plant. One possible source of cooperation could be the Department of Liquor Control's distribution system. Haulers leave Liquor Control's warehouse in South Seattle and travel to 350 private and public liquor outlets throughout the state. Liquor is hauled at regulated rates, but used bottles could be hauled back to Seattle at unregulated rates, as established in Senate Bill 6700 - Transportation of Recovered Materials.

Backhaul opportunities may also create options for recyclers. During the research for this paper it was surprising to discover that one of Ranier Beer's most dependable recyclers is a company in Spokane which receives beer bottles in cartons from beer distributors and has an arrangement with a hauler to carry the bottles to Seattle, where Ranier pays 9 6 ~ per case. The hauler charges about 2 5 ~ per case for the trip. The detail that makes the arrangement work for the recycler is the fact that he does not have to pack the beer bottles into cartons, thus minimizing

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handling. Wine bottles collected in shippable crates would offer similar handling advantages and would be denser than beer bottles for the same amount of returnable income.

In addition, the presence of Ranier in South Seattle, and their purchase of used beer bottles, may make full load cooperative arrangements more feasible for smaller recyclers. These advantages may make South Seattle a logical place for the bottlewashing operation.

EQUlPMENT Bottlewashing essentially involves submerging the bottles in a 2-3% caustic solution (sodium hydroxide) for about 10 minutes to sterilize and soak off labels, then rinsing twice with 160°F water. An anti-foaming agent may be used in the caustic bath. The last rinse is with soft water, possibly with a sanitizer added, to prevent spotting. Fresh water is used for the final rinse, which cycles into the prerinse, then can be used to dilute the caustic solution for disposal. Water usage is been estimated at 10 oz per 750 ml bottle. Steam is required to heat the caustic tank during operation.

A number of manufacturers of equipment for the wine industry were surveyed for equipment. No U.S. companies were located who currently make this type of bottlewasher. Therefore, a number of U.S. distributors for European and Asian machinery were also surveyed. Quotations were received from Prospero Equipment Corporation for equipment manufactured by R. Bardi in Italy and from Shibuya International, a Japanese manufacturer. The model is based on the Bardi equipment because the price was less than half of the Shibuya quotation. The Prospero quotations, without exact prices (the manufacturers have not approved price disclosure) is in the appendix with operational details on the equipment. Both quotatons are on file at the Clean Washington Center.

It is necessary to have a machine to remove the neck foil from the wine bottles. Before putting bottles on the input conveyor, they are inserted into an opening with rotating brushes which remove the plastic, aluminum, or lead foil. A cost estimate was obtained from Prospero Equipment for this equipment.

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Labels, neckrings, and miscellaneous corks constitute waste to be dumpstered. Conversations with cullet processors resulted in an estimated 5% by weight of waste, or 100 pounds per ton washed. - A number of operational details were learned on a visit to Encore in Richmond, California, with the cooperation of Richard D. Evans, one of the founders. It is important to consider Encore's operations in some detail because they represent the only large-scale independent wine bottle washing business in the United States.

Encore operates in a building with about 2000 square feet of office plus 16,000 square feet of factory. In addition, they maintain 40,000 square feet of warehouse in another location and about one acre of open yard space. About 1,000,000 unwashed bottles are in inventory.

Encore provides wooden knockdown bins held together by metal pins to recyclers for collection of wine bottles. This enables them to receive bottles in standard- sized containers which can be moved around by forklift. These containers can be made from used skids, which are readily available for free or at a nominal cost from industry.

Encore uses two bottlewashing machines, both purchased in used condition. One is used mostly for larger bottles (they wash from 350 ml to 2 liter bottles). Encore also finds a neck foil removal machine to be a necessary piece of equipment.

Encore pays about 90@ per case for used bottles. Their recycler information sheet is in the appendix. Selling price for washed bottles is from $3.60 to $4.00 per case depending on demand for a particular style. Delivery is free within an 80 mile radius. Bottles are washed only to meet orders. The managers at Encore know their inventory of washed bottles well enough that, given an order for, say 10,000 cases of deadleaf green claret with a punted bottom, they know which stockpiled unwashed crates of bottles to wash first to fill the order most efficiently. Encore is also a new bottle distributor. This is an important part of their business because it enables them to fulfill all of their customers' bottle needs. Sales of new and

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washed bottles are approximately equivalent in numbers. Encore also wholesales various wine production accessories, including corks.

Aside from washing empty bottles, Encore provides a number of other services to the wineries they serve. Wineries for various reasons end up with bad batches of bottled wine. Therefore, decanting or delabeling are sometimes required. When necessary, delabeling can be accomplished by running the bottlewashing machine with cool water, which removes the label without cooking the contents.

In general operation, mixed bottles styles are washed, then sorted on the output side of the machine. When operating at full capacity, Encore requires 9 employees on the factory floor to wash 3000 bottles per hour. Bottles are washed to order. If winery returns are available in full cases, they are washed first, making sorting unnecessary. After coming out of the washing machine, bottles pass in front of a light box, where an employee watches for imperfections or items left in the bottle. The bottles then feed out onto a sorting table, where employees with white cotton gloves pick up each bottle, spinning each as they hold one finger on the rim and one on the bottom of the bottle, checking for chipped lips or other imperfections. Bottles are then sorted into new cardboard boxes and loaded onto skids for shrinkwrapping. Many cartons are shipped blank, so wineries can add their own labels. In other cases bottles are packed into cartons provided by the wineries.

Some percentage of the bottles Encore receives cannot be used because of breakage or because they are the wrong types. They receive no value for old glass, and therefore seek to minimize the amount of unusable glass they receive. They accomplish this by working with recyclers they know and training them to only bring useable bottles. All bins received from recyclers are coded for tracking so that incorrect materials delivered to Encore can be debited to recyclers on the next visit.

PH level of the outgoing rinse water is automatically monitored and kept within a PH level of 6-10. The rinse water from the process contains sugars from the residual wine in the bottles, vinegar from old wine, which is acidic (low PH), and carryover from the caustic soak, which is basic (high PH). When the caustic tanks are drained, and sometimes during operations, sulfuric acid is metered into the effluent as required to maintain a low enough PH level.

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Mr. Evans emphasized the importance of knowing customer needs before embarking on this business. The three most important aspects of the Business? Quality, quality, and quality. Knowledge of the machinery is also essential. Delivery of washed bottles is made in about 2 weeks from stock. In speaking with customers of Encore, one former customer was found who said he no longer used Encore bottles because he had received bottles with fibers from the cardboard cartons clinging to the neck. Encore's response to this question was to say that many new bottles carried fibers from cardboard, and that because of this, most wineries included equipment to purge the bottles with air before filling.

This is tough service on equipment, whether it's new or used. Having staff able to repair the machinery and keep it in good repair is essential. Ready access to spare parts is also essential. Maintenance on the equipment must be regular and codified. One of the important calibrations on the bottlewashing machine is the nozzle alignment. The relationship between the nozzles and the bottles processed by the equipment is essential for quality, and must be scrupulously maintained.

PRO P O S E D B A T ION Using all of the information gathered for this report, a model is now presented to demonstrate the theoretical feasibility and scale of establishing a bottlewashing plant. Pro-forma financial spreadsheets will develop projected cash flows. Assumptions will be discussed. Anyone contemplating this venture will make their own assumptions regarding new or used equipment, cooperative relationships, places to locate, etc.

This model is based on washing wine bottles. However, food processing is the second largest industry in Washington. Flexibility of operations and equipment should be anticipated to the maximum extent possible in order to keep open the possibility for contract washing of containers for other food businesses. The mini- brewery industry is booming in Washington, making them the logical first diversification target for a washing business.

Preliminary estimates of feasible scale of collections, the size of the industry, and available equipment resulted in focussing on a scale to wash a minimum of 1200 bottles per hour. Based on 6.5 hours of washing operations per day and 250

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operating days per year, this results in an annual capacity of 2,000,000 bottles for one shift. This model is scaled on this type of equipment. Ranier, and most other bottling plants with refilling capabilities, use a system which washes at least 30,000 bottles per hour. Capital costs and operations for that scale of equipment were considered to be prohibitive in this study.

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Lat2els Labels are evolving in the wine industry. Labels on bottles in the past were almost all made from paper and affixed with a water-based adhesive. Some wine producers have changed to press-on labels for ease in operations. Others have changed to water-proof labels so that bottles placed in ice or chilled in a refrigerator will not loose their labels. Both of these changes make label removal by soaking more difficult. A person pursuing this plan should talk with wineries and collect a variety of bottles to be tested by the washing machine manufacturer before committing to purchase.

aualitv The quality issue is important enough to warrant revisiting. The bottles will be inspected at three stages of the washing process. The person removing the neck bands and loading the washing machine will be watching for items in bottles. The person sitting in front of the light box will be looking for defects. The people at the output conveyor will be inspecting for defects. Finally, as mentioned above, presumably the wine producer's personnel will provide a final inspection by default.

One large wine producer has stated that the bottles produced by the operation described here would not work for them because they use only high speed equipment, which will not tolerate the slight differences between bottle manufacturers. Even if this is the case, presumably most wine producers have slow and fast bottling lines, which may make washed bottles usable in at least part of their bottling operation.

The operations manager may decide to "seed" defective bottles into the input side of the process and award employees who find them in order to keep employees aware. It should be remembered that active inspection is superior to passive inspection, so any process which causes the workers to actually handle the bottles

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is a more effective quality control process than one which only requires observation.

The next page shows operating expenses for the model. The appendix contains another spreadsheet showing some of the assumptions and derivations underlying

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the expenses. An itemized description of the expenses follows. .-

Building rent is an estimate from a short investigation of industrial space in South Seattle. The appendix contains a building layout demonstrating a possible 6000 square feet operation.

Lot rental is based on the necessity to be able to store up to 1,000,000 unwashed bottles. Approximately 500 loose wine bottles can be stored, loose, in one cubic yard. One cubic yard containers, stacked two high, require 9000 square feet for storage. Assuming 90% efficiency, 10,000 square feet of open yard are required. The appendix contains a possible lot layout.

Management expense is based on $3000 per month salary plus $800 per month burden.

One skilled laborer is assumed to be on staff from project inception. This person must be able to assemble equipment, oversee hourly workers, and operate generally through self-motivation. This full-time person is considered to be a part of plant overhead. A salary of $12 per hour is assumed, including burden.

Phone expense is based on three lines plus 60 minutes per day of long distance.

Monthly $500 maintenance expense includes all equipment.

Travel expense is based on the manager using his or her own car to travel 500 miles per week at 28g per mile to make calls. No overnights are budgetted for this startup operation.

Waste, consisting mostly of labels, is anticipated to require two 2 cubic yard dumpsters per month.

Total fixed operating expenses are estimated to be $1 1,780 per month. 7/5/93

botw expenses

total 2.55

I depreciable capital expenses bottlewashing machine 1 other depreciable equip I

250,000 total

180,000 70,000

total borrowed interest rate tax rate

400,000 8% 25%

percent defects 4% cost of used bottles lease 0.96

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84t will be paid to recyclers for each bottle delivered. Of the bottles delivered, it is assumed that 4% will be lost to breakage after receipt. Containers will be tagged with the recycler's name when received. Any none-qualifying bottles will be deducted from future deliveries. This insures that all of the raw inventory is saleable bottles.

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See the sample plant layout in the appendix for employee disposition. At full operation of 1250 bottles per hour, 6 workers will be required. One is contained in fixed expenses above. The rest of the staff, at a total cost of $10.50 per worker, including burden, is considered to be a variable cost, and will be phased in as labor is required during operation ramp-up.

Water, gas, and electricity are derived from the manufacturer's equipment requirements, which are described in the appendix. Costs are calculated in the assumptions spreadsheet. On a per-case basis, energy and water requirements are not significant.

Liability insurance, at 2% of sales, comes from conversations with agents.

Carton costs were calculated from manufacturers' quotes. The actual carton costs 394% In addition, a service organization will assemble the carton and the insert for 1 1 @, making a total cost of 50@ per carton used.

Finished bottles will be shipped, shrinkwrapped, 27 cartons per pallet.

Delivery is based on free delivery up to 50 miles, 75 skids per trailer, at a cost of $lOO/hour, round trip, for the truck.

Total variable costs are $2.55 per case.

Quoted landed price for the Bardi bottlewasher is less than $150,000. In addition, $30,000 has been allowed for delivery, setup, and $500 per day cost for a factory service person to participate in start-up.

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$70,000 in capital expense is assumed for other equipment, including neck stripper, water heater, steam generator, and forklift. All of this equipment except the neck stripper can be purchased in used, refurbished condition.

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Total capital costs, depreciable over seven years, are therefore $250,000. - -

A possible strategy to carry forward this plan is to implement one stage at a time with pre-defined "bail-out" dates if results do not meet specifications.

7ero Any group or individual carrying this plan forward should try to insure the up-front participation of the wine industry. Financial institutions or other potential lenders should also be contacted in order to gain some measure of confidence that, if the stated goals are met, financing will be available.

stzwals For the first six months of actual operation, the manager and one worker begin bottle collection, possibly at a loaned site, if possible. During this period, recyclers and restaurants are contacted to begin bottle collection. Goals are set for collection rates. In the model, a monthly rate of 15,625 bottles is assumed for the first quarter, with increases of 15,625 per month each quarter thereafter. Bottles are stockpiled. If the six month collection goal of 187,500 is not met, the project should be re- evaluated.

Also, during the first six months, sample bottles in the full range of sizes and types of labels should be sent to the prospective washing machine manufacturer, to assure that the equipment is compatible with the raw material. On the site, knock- down crates can be made from surplus skids gathered from other businesses. In the model, an initial investment of $100,000 is required to sustain the first six months.

ijmfcka If the stated goals of Stage One are met , then Stage Two can be undertaken. Stage Two requires a commitment to the purchase of the capital equipment. $150,000 in additional capital plus $400,000 in dept financing are required. In

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order to sustain the business into full operation, it is assumed that an interest-only debt at 8% can be arranged for one year. Thereafter, the debt is retired in six years. The equipment is assumed to arrive and be set up at the end of this period. - Full operations begin at the end of one year. Collections are still ramping up, and do not reach 500,000 per quarter until the eighth quarter of the plan. With a washing rate of 2,000,000 bottles per year, the operation is fully functional, with six workers and one manager washing 1200 bottles per hour for 6.5 hours per day 250 days per year.

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With collections of 2,000,000 bottles per year and sales of $640,000 per year, the project shows an operating profit of over $90,000 per year before depreciation and interest.

PRO - F O W FINANCIA1 PROJFCTlON This section will describe, line-by-line, the Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Statement which follow it. All spreadsheets in this report are available from the Clean Washington Center, and the CWC business assistance specialist will be work with any interested party to enter their assumptions into the model. The financial spreadsheet is very dense with information. Anyone not experienced with analyzing this type of instrument may want to consult with an expert.

1) cash Cash is a calculated number for the spreadsheet, the result of all that happens below it.

2) a d s rec Accounts receivable are a calculation of sales for the period and Days Rec below.

3) fin inventory Finished inventory is the unsold bottles in stock, valued at variable cost of $2.55 per case. Finished inventory will accumulate, especially until adequate experience is attained regarding sources and sales of particular bottle types.

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11 /long t e n debt 1 01 0 1 0 1 0 I 400,000 1 400.000 I 400,000

totoll Ilabllltles 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 I 400.000 I 400,000 I 400,000

I I

I I I I I I I

I I I I I I I I 51net tixed 80681s I 214.286 1 178.571 I 142.857 I 107,143 I 71,429 I 35,714 1 0

tOt.l[.S..t. I 430.289 1 453.612 I 426,771 I 400.279 I 374,164 1 348,456 1 323.187

I 3 4 3 5

3 6 less grorqfunds flow

(8.694) 23.323 27.685 32,396 37.484 42.979 48.914 8.929 35,714 35.714 35.714 35.714 35.714 35,714

234 59,037 63,399 68,110 73.198 78.693 84.628 24,404 26,071 0 0 0 0 0

I 3 7 1 k I 0 1 0 1 54.526 1 58,888 I 63,599 I 68.687 1 74.182 netleash flow (24,170)/ 32.966 I 8.873 I 9,222 I 9,599 I 10,006 1 10,446

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Finished inventory consumes cash. To be conservative, ninety days of finished inventory is assumed. The rate of washing lags collections by one quarter. For example, in quarter five, 26,041 cases are collected. In quarter six, therefore, 26,041 cases are washed, of which 4% are damaged, leaving 25,000 cases in finished inventory. At $2.55 per case, the finished inventory is valued at $63,688.

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4) raw inventory Raw inventory is the value of bottles which have been collected, but not yet washed. $15,000 in raw inventory is built up in the first six months. Thereafter, the raw inventory is that $15,000 plus the current quarter's collections, valued at 96C per case

5) net fixed assets All depreciable equipment is put into operation at the start of the fifth quarter. It is depreciated, straight line, over seven years.

6) accts payable The business is assumed to pay expenses in cash. Any capacity to accrue expenses will mean less cash is required.

7) inc tax payable Income tax losses are carried forward, with the result that no taxes are due during the period analyzed.

8) LTD current LTD current is that portion of debt due the day after the statement date.

11) long term debt The long term debt is interest-only for the first year, then retired in six years.

12) common stock At par

13) add'l paid in The model requires $99,000 up front, an additional $100,000 after six months, and an additional $50,000 after 15 months.

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14) ret'd earn'gs Retained earnings turn positive at the end of the modelled period.

15) sales Bottles received two quarters previous to the statement quarter are sold in that quarter. For example, in quarter five, 312,500 bottles are collected. 4% are damaged, leaving 300,000 bottles, or 25,000 cases. Sales for quarter seven, then, are 25,000 cases at $4.00 per case, or $100,000.

16) COGS Cost of goods sold is calculated at variable cost. See expenses spreadsheet in appendix.

17) s.g.a. Sales and general administration expense is calculated in the expenses spreadsheet in the previous section.

The breakeven point for operating profits is approximately 1,200,000 bottles per year. Profits after taxes begin to accumulate in the third year, when full operation is reached. Retained earnings turn positive at the end of the modelled period.

Obviously, if a party wishing to carry this plan forward were to commit to equipment immediately and start washing bottles as they are received, this model would begin to generate profits much more quickly. It was thought to be a lower risk strategy in this report, however, to build a model based on a conservative staged approach.

BARRlERS In summary, a number of the barriers to entry into this business will be discussed.

A commitment to adequate capital to grow the business to a profitable scale is critical. In the research for this report, strangulation due to cash flow problems was the predominant reason given for failure of some similar startups.

The bottlewashing machine is the center of this business. This model was based on new equipment. It was not logical to expend energy searching out used

7/5/93

19

~~

equipment which may not be available when this project is being implemented. Moreover, looking at the variable and fixed expenses in the model, labor is by far the largest expense. A $100,000 savings amortized over seven years is equivalent to about the annual cost of one worker. Therefore, the quality and reliability of any equipment purchased must be carefully considered with respect to possible labor efficiencies.

~

A positive reception from the wine producer industry is a necessary part of planning this business. On the collection side, relationships with recyclers will be important at an early stage.

The spreadsheets in this report are available by contacting Bob Kirby, business assistance specialist at the Clean Washington Center. The models can be run with any assumptions deemed appropriate. They are also open to full discussion and debate as to validity.

FUNCTlONAl BlBUoGRAPHY AND CONTACTS uslc A large number of articles were collected and people spoken with on the general topic of refillables for this paper. The references below are considered to be the most pertinent to operations. All articles are on file at the Clean Washington Center. As any group or individual proceeds to carry through this plan, or one like it, the Center may be able to help with other contacts and resources.

€lever-, Seattle Public Library call number RD.9 B467 Be 91/92.

B-d. This magazine, and its Buyer's Guide, issued once each year, are sources for new and used equipment and information on issues in the bottling industry.

Blitz-Weinhard washes bottles in Portland. They may be a source of knowledge in the business. (503)222-4351.

Camas Winery is a very small operaton in Moscow, Idaho. They wash bottles by hand. They may be a source for do-it-yourself hardcore advice.

.

7/5/93

20

Chaplin, Scott, "Environmentally-responsible packaging trends around the world: implications for the U.S.," the Rocky Mountain Institute (303)927-3851. This Is the BEST information the author has seen on the world glass container picture. It is a must-read for anyone seriously interested in this issue.

Cobra, David W., W v e s in 4cuir;ulture , Prentice Hall, 1989. The best, most up-to-date book on producer cooperatives we were able to find. Available at Seattle Public Library.

-

D & L Equipment made this scale of machinery at one time. They still rebuild older equipment and resell it. Bob Unke (414)251-2400.

Department of Liquor Control Public Information Office can supply a list of establishments with licenses to serve wine in glasses. These may be possible sources for free used bottles. A list for King County is on file at the Clean Washington Center. Other synergies are possible with Liquor Control operations. The manager of Liquor Control's recycling program is Daniel Threatt (206)753- 6275.

Encore Environmental Glass was of inestimable help in developing this report. They have expressed a willingness to help a committed party to establish an operation in Washington. The author requests that anyone interested in contacting Encore first be fully committed to the project. We do not want to overuse this valuable resource.

Gitlitz, Jennifer, "Beverage container reuse: a company profile," Besource -, July, 1990. A description of Encore.

Institute for Environmentally Sound Packaging. This Canadian group may be a source for good information, but we were unable to get their specialist in refillables, Ruth Lotzkar, to return phone calls. (604)736-3644. -

King County Metro. Questions about water discharge quality can be asked of Doug Hilderbrand (206)689-3032 or Elsi Holsizer (206)689-3010.

7/5/93

21

Prosper0 Equipment. Dave Metz has been of invaluable help in teaching the author about some of the intricacies of the wine and bottle business. (319)263- 1394

Puget Sound Go-operative Federation. Can offer information and counseling on establishing cooperative structures. (206)632-4559. .-

Ranier Brewery washes beer bottles. Some level of cooperation may be possible with their buy-back center in South Seattle. (206)622-2600

St Julian winery in Michigan washes about 200,000 cases per year of wine and sparkling juice bottles and has extensive experience with operations. Most of their collections come back through their own distribution system. (61 6)657-5568

SnO Valley Dairy. Early in this study the author visited Dan Bartelheimer at Sno- Valley Dairy. They had a milk bottlewasher which had been in service until they ended their dairy business in early 1992. It may be functional and adaptable to smaller bottles. (206)568-2002.

Sunflower Recycling Cooperative (name is now Northwest Bottle Regeneration) started a bottlewashing operation in Portland in 1992. A copy of their bottle collection flier is in the Appendix. They apparently have encountered some problems on start-up. Current status is unknown as of this writing. A grant proposal Sunflower submitted to Portland Metro is on file at the Clean Washington Center.

7/5/93

mum bu lldlna s Ize demo nstration

building size 6000 square feel

officellocker area 1200 square feet

bottlewashing I( machine

input conveyor, capsule removal

I

output conveyor and lightbox

0

0 staging area

skid prep area

~

sorting area

water treatment & filtration

3000 square feet storage for 120,000

washed bottles and warehouse supplies

0 = 1 employee

building 6000 square feet

minimum lot size 20,000 square feet:

6,000 building 14,000 open

dock

1 dock

10,000 square feet outside storage for

1,000,000 unwashed bottles

gas 500 therm service 4.51 first 100 55.24 over 100 45.96

per therm 0.40 source: Washington Nat'l

I

electric 50 kw service 23.62 10,000 kwh loadlkw 0.97

usagekwh 0.023 per kwh 0.030

source: Seattle City Light

labor per hour 8.00 burden 2.50

tots1 cost per hour 10.50 .z"llrFa'

bottle washer

I , ---. I

unit 140,000 lreig ht/setup 40,000

total Installed 180,000 source: Prosper0

i

uaed bottles

saleable bottles

I , , insurance [percent of sale4 1 2%

source: I estimate I I I I

case 0.96 source: Encore

case 4.00 source: Encore

ottlce suppiles monthly cost 200 source: estimate

shop supplles

chemlcals

monthly cost 100

monthly cost 100

source: estimate

source: estimate

ASSUMPTIONS I I I I I I

travel

Isource: ]estimate j 2,000 mileslmonth .28/miie 560

source: estimate

percent defects

I I I I dumpster 12 x 2 cu. yd 1 70

Isource: ]waste mgt I 4%

water use

electricity for washer

2.2 cumeter 1272 bottles cu.ft./carton 1 .oo

$ per carton 0.04 3.71 $/too cu n.

source: Prospero

7.7 kwh 1272 bottles kwhlbottle 0.01 0.03/$/kwh I

1s per carton I 0.0036

delivery 2,000 casas/trip 100 $/hour 100 miiesltrip per case 0.10

~~ ~

Prosper0 Equipment Corporation

Marketing Office

~~

PRELIMINARY QUOTATION February 22, 1993

Washington Mr. Bob Kirby State Department of Trade

2001 67th. Ave. Suite 2700 i@R 0 1 1993 lu

@-mq Seattle, WA. 98121 Phone: 206-389-2549 FAX: 206-464-5868

C !/\iL>, ---...~ Dear Bob,

Final price on the machine will be based on the exchange rate in effect at the time of purchase. Unless the dollar takes a dive, I am sure the numbers I give you will give close enough for budgetary purposes.

As I told you on the phone, the principle behind a bottle washer is that the label glue will be dissolved by the action of a hot bath of caustic (sodium hydroxide) solution. Normal pressure sensitive labels can not be removed in this manner.

Recently a type of paper and pressure sensitive adhesive has been

.~

developed that can be removed by a bottle washing machine. If the wineries and breweries in this project agree t o switch to this kind of paper, then you will have no problems recycling the bottles.

If you need further information, please call me a t any time.

Best Regards,

1

Main Office: 134 Marble Avenue Pleasantville, New York 10570

Voice 1-91 4-769-6252 Fax 1-91 4-769-6786

Marketing Office: 725 Climer Street Muscatine, Iowa 52761 Voice 1-31 9-263-1 394

Answering machine & Fax 1-31 9-263-0564

Equipment Corporation Marketing Office

ITEM QUAN. DESCRIPTION PRICE

1. 1 R. Bardi model VICTORIA 133-58-53-6

Basket diameter: 133mm Total number of beams 58 Beam Load: 53 Baskets on each beam: 8 Number of baths: 2

Full charge of bottles: 318

Production: 1,272 BPH

Total treatment time: 15 min. Internal maceration Total caustic contact time: Caustic spraying time: Fresh water rinse time: Bottle draining time (dripping):

Steam consumption at start up: Steam consumption running: 40 Kg/Hr Water: 2.2 Cubic meters/hr Electricity: 7.7 Kw

6 min. 35 sec. 9 min. 58 sec. 1 min. 5 sec. 34 sec. 2 min.

1 19 Kg/Hr

Dimensions Length: 3.2 meters Width: 2.1 meters Height: 2.7 meters

NOTE: 1. This machine can handle all round glass bottles with diameters or between 65 and 110 mm and heights of 240 mm to 340 mm.

2. To change bottle sizes requires changing the mechanical components that infeed and unload the bottles. This takes no longer then ten minutes. The factory will have to have samples of the bottles to determine the number of change part sets you will require.

2

Main Office: 134 Marble Avenue Pleasantville, New York 10570

Voice 1-91 4-769-6252 Fax 1-91 4-769-6786

Marketing Office 725 Climer Street Muscatine, Iowa 52761 Voice 1-31 9-263-1 394

Answering machine & Fax 1-31 9-263-0564

P rospero Equipment Corporation

Marketing Office

The model VICTORIA comes with these standard features:

Accumulation table with intermittent movement set up for

* Loading chute made of engineering plastic complete with

* Automatic discharge of bottles with rotating cam made of

* Discharge chute made of engineering plastic set up to

* Discharge conveyor made of 304 stainless steel. Conveyor

* Safety devices to stop machine if discharge jams or if

* Beam roller chain made of hardened steel * Beams made of 3 mm carbon steel with box cross section * Easy to replace baskets made of high temperature plastic * Manual speed control * Special designed coils for heating the baths. These coils are easily removable and made with a unique seamless design without welding by a proprietary process.

* Sides of machine are 8 mm steel, tanks are 6 mm steel * Spraying tubes are easy to remove for cleaning. * Label extraction station with filtering belt. * Water inlets to spraying pumps are pre-filtered. * Water and bath temperatures are regulated * Steam trap on the steam back * Exhaust steam stack

Electrical system complete with main power panel and push button control panel.

* Single connection for water, steam and electric power * Inspection windows and drawers on all parts of machine allow easy removable of components for cleaning.

* Safety covers on all external moving parts. * Mounting legs have 170mm vertical travel.

All metal parts painted with epoxy paint unless they are

.75 liter round bottle

safety devices to shut off machine in case of jam.

engineering plastic to place bottles on conveyor.

.75 liter round bottles.

can discharge in either direction.

bottles back up on discharge conveyor.

stainless steel, chrome or nickel plated.

* Hot and cold rinse stations of machine built of stainless steel.

3

Main Office: 134 Marble Avenue Pleasantville, New York 10570

Voice 1-91 4-769-6252 Fax 1-91 4-769-6786

Marketing Office: 725 Climer Street Muscatine. Iowa 52761 Voice 1-31 9-263-1 394

Answering machine & Fax 1-31 9-263-0564

~~ -

Prosper0 Equipment Corporation

Marketing Office

ROTARY SPRAY NOZZLES

The VICTORIA spraying system consists of spray nozzles mounted on rotating shafts. These shafts are turned by a Maltese cross drive operated by a pin on each beam. This mechanism ensures that the spray of water is perfectly synchronized with the necks of the bottles, even if the basket drive chain stretches over the years.

The spray pattern produced by the movement of the shaft causes the water to first spray one side of the bottle, then the other in a sweeping motion. This ensures the maximum rinsing effect for the volume of water used.

The rotating spray nozzle is self cleaning. Each reversal of the shaft causes the flow direction of the water to reverse, thus producing a self cleaning effect. Dismantling of the machine for nozzle cleaning is greatly reduced if not eliminated.

NOT INCLUDED IN THIS QUOTE

* Steam generator * Pump to increase water pressure for final rinse section * In-feed conveyor belt * Connections to utilities and conveyors.

DELIVERY GUARANTEE I N STA L L AT I 0 N

Five months from receipt of payment Six months from start up date $500 per day for R.Bardi factory technician, This does not include transportation. meals. lodging or translation service.

PRICE F.O.B. OUR NEW YORK WAREHOUSE

OPTIONS Price quoted includes stainless steel final section Less $20,000 for soft steel rinse section.

Change parts for one additional bottle size complete for in-load and out-load $3.1 50

SAMPLES: Samples and drawings of bottlek) must be submitted with your order. This is to ensure that there will be absolutely no problems with your installation. The factory will notify us of

4

Main Office: 134 Marble Avenue Plnasantville. New York 10570 .. ~

Voice 1 :914-769-6252 Fax 1-91 4-769-6786

Marketing Office: 725 Climer Street Miiscatinn. Iowa 52761 __.- Voce 1-31 9-263-1394

Answering machine & Fax 1-31 9-263-0564

Prosper0 Equipment Corporation

Marketing Office

the quantity of bottles required at the time the order is placed.

in place. Purchaser will provide all electrical hookups and plant air where required. Final assembling of the machines, testing and training of the staff is available from factory techniciank) if purchaser so desires. The installation fee will be quoted on a per day basis when the machine is ordered.

Prices are quoted in U.S. dollars. Thirty percent deposit with your signed contract and order. Thirty percent when machine when completed. Balance before machine is shipped.

We encourage inspection of the machines by the purchaser at the factories after completion. This is best done at the consol. idation point when the equipment is packed in the container. All machines are priced F.O.B. our New York warehouse.

CONDITIONS: Purchaser will be responsible for unloading and setting the machines

TERMS:

PREPARED BY Marketing Director

/” ACCEPTED BY DATE

5

Main Office: 134 Marble Avenue Pleasantville, New York 10570

Voice 1-91 4-769-6252 Fax 1-91 4-769-6786

Marketing Office: 725 Climer Street Muscatine. Iowa 52761 Voice 1-31 9-263-1 394

Answering machine & Fax 1-31 9-263-0564

.. . . . , . ! . . . .

ENCORE! P R I C E S P A I D FOR WINE BOTTLES E F F E C T I V E 2/1 /97

NOTE ** The follo- he 4~ f r - f r~q h P l n w .

;': i G L E - X F ~ r G i i F (d) -12@/case for bottles not sorted by S T Y L E in case or bin

NOTE ** The following A D D I T I O N will be made to prices below: __ 6Q/case for all cases delivered to ENCORE! from over 150 miles away

P L E A S E take the time to prepare bottles properly! No bottles with corks inside! No embossed or decaled bottles! Thank you!

~ ~~

Price Price '

Per Per CASE TON S I T U A T I O N

(1) Over 2500 cases, same style & color; or

e4g $ 1 4 0 YOU ( 2 ) Over 1500 cases ( 9 tons) all sizes &

DEL I VER based on three month running average. styles (boxed or binned) per month

_ - 700 $130 Over 20 cases any item, boxed or binned

_ _ _ _ _ _ c _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ENCORE ! - _ - - - - -

5OC $ 84 Under 20 cases any style (10 case minimum) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

$106 P I C K S Any item, cased or binned 640 - _ - - - - - - _ - _ _ _ - _ - - - _ - _ - _ L _ _ _ _

UP 3% $ 50 Small quantity, special or hand load

LARGE D E L I V E R I E S : P L E A S E call before coming i n !

PAYMENT: Payments will be made by mail by the TENTH of the - following month or via deductions from bills for bottles purchased from ENCORE!

FOR MORE INFORMATION

ON PRICING OR PICKUP

P L E A S E CALL OR W R I T E : ENVIRONMENTAL COMAKdER REUSE

860 South 19th Street

ENCORE!

Richmond, CA 94804 (415) 234-5670

TOTAL 1 , 2 and 3 SALES T A X

bJCORE! will a d d d wash fact.or tL! rcprric.es5 b o t t l e 5 which a r e r io t i,. - . : . . L V ~ P f i r s t t i m e . P l e a s e s e n d =jL*mpl ? c 5 0 e:.:act pricing can be g ~ ~ a r ~ ~ i t r e d .

c 0 R K '

I BOTTLE SIZES A R E EMBOSSED

IN THE GLASS

ENCOKE! IS CURRENTLY H U Y l N G ALL CORK FlNlStl U . S . L.AllELED 37.5mi & 750ml L:A'~B%E,.LS TABLE WINE BOTTLES IN A L L C O L O R S , FLAT BOTTOM OK INDENTED BOTTOM

WTTOM EDGE OF THE BOTTLE

UF ACCEPTABLE BOTTLES

I 375 m l

Yel lowish 37 .5 CI b o t t l e s w i t h a U . S. l a b e l a r e 0 . K .

Looks l i k e a small 7-up b o t t l e . DESCRIPTION I

I Impor t s ,

UNACCEPTABLE &I5 p i n t o r 2 1 5 BOTTLES THAT q u a r t b o t t l e s ,

MIGHT BE -* b e e r . wa te r . o r

ACCEPTABLE BOTTLES

E f f e c t i v e December 1, 1992

o r 750 m l C l a r e t

Sha rp s h o u l d e r e c b o t t l e .

I m p o r t s , 41'5 q u a r t s d e s s e r t b o t t l e s s u c h a s m u s c a t e l , p o r t , o r s h e r r y .

750 ml-Burgundy 5mooth s h o u l d e r d i t h g e n t l e t a p e r k'ellowish 75 c l b o t t l e s w i thU.S . l a b e l s and deep Lndent a r e O . K .

I m p o r t s , 415 q u a r t s , mose l l e s t y l e b o t t l e s ( u s u a l l y Germanwines such a s L ieb f raumi lch o r Blue Nun) .

'I 750 m l l ! ~. .. :

C a l i f o r n i a r a l l e r t h a n ' a ' . ,

mrgundy and ; h o r t e r . t h a n h o c k

. . .,

smooth s h o u l d e r .

rmports, mosell i" i t y l e . (Accep,tabli )o K t 1 e s have '750~:

. .

,

. .

T a l l e s t b o t t l e l o n g neck and g e n t l e t a p e r .

.mports , m o s e l l e ; t y l e . ( A c c e p t a b l e ) o t t l e s T a v e 7 5 O m l mbossed on t h e

Remove a l l c o r k s , f o i l , p l a s t i c and wax. N O b o t t l e s w i th d e c a l s , p a i n t , o r embossing.

S p n n r n t P hv c r v l u - r n l n - . .--c:..- . - - - ~

I I I I

1)

BOTTLE S I Z E S ARE EMBOSSED

IN THE G L A S S NEAR T H E

BOTTOM EDGE OF THE BOTTLE

D E S C R I P T I O N

OF ACCEPTABLE BOTTLES

-. - . V Y , " _ I " " I L L I L L ) . '....A'

GREEN ONLY, U . S . LABELS

Effective December 1, 1992 ENCORE1 . . . . . . . . . . .

@. "

3 L classic Large (two-finger) handle as above, straight sides, green only.

CLEAR, 3 lfter' standards with small "hooktt type handles, gallons, proprietary shapes ( C a r l o R o s s i ) .

UNACCEPTABLE BOTTLES THAT

M I G H P BE CONFUSED WITH

ACCEPTABLE BOTTLES

4 L standard Small "hook" handle and straight sides, green only.

CLEAR, proprietary shapes, g a l l o n s .

~~

, . . ' , CLEAR, . .. gal lons , Carlo Ross i . . 3 L .

. , > . "

rge (two-Einger) andle and ~ ,

"jumbo". size sorrte- CLEAR, ~ '

times used by. .

Petri, Inglenook, and otliers, proprietary shapes, g a l l o n s .

i - _ I

Remove a l l c a p s , f o i l , and neckrings. Separate by size.

No bottles with decals, p a i n t , or embossing.

I I

Sunflower gecycling Cooperative Troudly Snnounces 3 Y e w rSl/larhet for W i n e % d e s

n,

Thanks to a Metro 1% for Recycling Grant,. we are selling up, in partnership with Richard Pixner of Saga USA, the fxilities t.o wash wine bot.l.les for reuse. May I , we will start seeking corkable wine boltles wherever we can find thein. We olfer you up to $70/1on for the bottles you collect. We hope the sharp increase in the value of these corkable wine bottles over what ydu currently receive for glass, particularly green glass, which makes up lhe majority of wine bottles, will induce you to separale thein and sell tlient to us.

WHAT WE WANT: Most 3751111, 750tnl. and 1.51t corkable wine bottles of all colors. We will not pay for screw-topkt s, or bottles unique to a particular

companies are the only non-wine botlles we will accept. No olhers, such as Sherry botlles, are acceptable.

brand such as Altnaden bottles.,C Pd ianipagne bottles used by +t" h 3 c -

HOW WE WANT THEM: Whelher we pick thein up or you drop them off, we will take bottles in sinall containers like 55 gallon plastic barrels, or largcr ones that are forkliftable. Whatever you use, you must be able to leave it with us htweea shipntenls siitce we cannot dump containers of bottles.

WHEN'WE WANT THEM: Beginning M ~ Y I .

WHAT WE PAY YOU FOR THEM: $70/ton. or $0.05hottle. is our top price. (Bottles weigh an average of 1.4Ib-s.) To get i t you must. sort out only I.he kinds or

boltles/ton. Achieving this level of sortation will probably require some training. You must deliver the bottles.

We will pay $40/ton if we pick up bottles sorted to above specifications. wifb,, t o o

bottles we want to a. contamination .level of 3% or 40 broken or unwanted , , 4

-

f% FJI i6& ( 3,500 iL5 6.r .-re) to;&% . ~ b WiIGs PAJ / 'G- d e .

We will pay $3o/to11 for bottles you deliver that are unsorted (collected on route but not sorted. for example). l'lie weight of bottles that are broken or that we cannot wash and sell for reuse will bc subtracted from the quantity we pay for.

We will pick lip, but riot pay for, unsorted fnll loads of wine bottles.

We hope our offer .makes collect.ing wine bot.tles separa.tely very appealing t,o yon. If you now take your recyclables t,o other recycling r d e r s , we h o p you will be able to avoid breaking wine bottles so {bat they can sell them 1.0 us. If you do not t.hink our program will work for you, but you do not, like handling glass at. today's prices, please enconrage your sources of wine bottles lo contact 11s.

We are especially interested in wine bottles generat,ed by Metro area restaurants. If the deal'we offer is not good enough t.o induce you to bring the unda.inaged bottles from restaurants yon serve to us, we would Ix? happy 1.0 pick them up ourselves. Your help in identifying the best sources of wine bottles would be greatly appreciated. We prefer that you bring Ix,ttles to us, but, one way or another, we would like every reusable bottle we can get.

To get our best price of $70/ton, some training in sortdion is very helpful. The easiest 'place to sort is probably right on the curb. We are very happy 1.0 show your drivers the kinds of bottles we want. If you have a,ny questions, or bottles lo sell us, call 11s and ask for Xander PaLterson. We hope you will join us in our effort to elevate a costly recyclable product into a valuable reusable one.

B

Cheers, &@a Alexander C. Patterson

Member, Suiillower Recycling Co-op