In the news: Catching Milk Crate Rustlers
Today in the news is an effort by dairies in California to catch the people who are stealing milk crates to have them ground up, and shipped to China to be turned into all kinds of other products. The current recycling rate for plastic about about 28 cents a pound, and the average milk crate weights 3 pounds, so the milk crate thieves can be making a good living.
Armstrong and Getty radio show (on 910 KNEW) this morning remarked about the story: "Dairies hiring detectives to find the lost milk crates... Sounds like a Hardy Boys book (great laughter).... The ground up plastic is being shipped to China to be turned into furniture, building materials.... and toothpaste, meat products, filler in food, etc. (great laughter).
Edmund Woods, a loss prevention expert for Alta Dena Diaries, was interviewed about the problem on KQED. He mentioned how having a milk crate for anything other than carrying milk is a felony, and he offered that anyone who wants to turn in old milk crate can call him at 1-800-457-6688 and they will arrange for the crates to be picked up.