How to Get Your CRV Back for Bottles and Cans in L.A.

Ask for a one-by-one count on up to 50 of each material, and keep anything without a CRV fee out of the bag.

You're wondering what that bag of empties by the back door is worth. Each can or bottle under 24 ounces carries a 5-cent refund, and each one 24 ounces or bigger carries 10 cents, according to CalRecycle, the state recycling agency.

You already paid that money. The California Refund Value, or CRV, is added to the drink's price at the register, and it covers most drinks except milk, infant formula and medical food. You get it back only by bringing the empties to a recycling center or a store that redeems them. Put them in a curbside or public recycling bin and the refund goes to whoever collects that bin.

Wine and liquor have counted since Jan. 1, 2024, CalRecycle says. In glass, aluminum or plastic bottles they pay the same 5 or 10 cents. In a box, pouch or carton they pay 25 cents, whatever the size.

Here's how to get it back, in order.

1. Find a place. California has about 1,200 recycling centers. Search the state's recycling center locator by ZIP code or pick Los Angeles County from the list. Some grocery stores and other retailers take empties too, and they're on a separate in-store redemption list. The locator page also links to dealer cooperative sites and pilot programs.
2. Call before you drive. The state doesn't own or run any of these centers. Each one sets its own days and hours and has to post them, so CalRecycle's advice is to contact the center directly.
3. Empty, clean and sort. Containers should be whole, with no liquid, dirt or anything else inside. Keep aluminum, glass, plastic and bimetal separate.
4. Decide: by count or by weight. You have the right to a one-by-one count on as many as 50 containers of each material in a single transaction: 50 cans, 50 glass bottles, 50 plastic bottles. Each one is paid at its own 5- or 10-cent value. Boxed wine, pouches and cartons max out at 25 each by count. Bigger hauls go on the scale, up to 100 pounds each of aluminum and plastic and 1,000 pounds of glass per day.
5. Know the scale rate. Since Jan. 1, 2026, every certified center has to pay at least $1.66 a pound for aluminum, which the state figures at about 31 cans. Plastic bottles marked #1 get at least $1.46 a pound, and glass gets 10.1 cents. Weight pay is based on the statewide average number of containers per pound, not on your containers. If your bag is mostly big 10-cent bottles, count is the only way each one gets paid at 10 cents.

The mistake that costs you is mixing in stuff that never had a CRV fee, like a milk jug, when you're paid by weight. State law only requires full refunds on loads made up entirely of CRV containers. If anything else is in the bag, the center can turn the whole load away or pay you scrap value for it. Pull it out before you get in line.

If a center won't pay by count, you can report it on CalRecycle's online complaint form, and the agency says it investigates complaints. Use the same form if a center near you has closed. Suspected fraud goes to 1-866-CANLOAD.

A closed center isn't always the end of it. Since Jan. 1, 2025, stores inside a convenience zone (the 1-mile radius around a supermarket) that has gone more than 60 days without a recycling location have to take empties in-store or run a dealer cooperative, according to CalRecycle. Stores with less than $1.5 million in yearly sales, not counting fuel, or under 5,000 square feet are exempt. If your neighborhood center shut down, check the in-store list first. If the store still won't take your empties, file the complaint.

Source: State of California, retrieved October 27, 2026. Other sources: State of California (2), State of California (3), State of California (4).