PATEL'S REDEMPTION

Patel takes shot at local redemption center

Plan in place to take advantage of new state regs

Posted

FORT MADISON - The idea of a redemption center in Fort Madison has been missing the mark for the past 10 years, but a plan out on the west end of town just might work.

Ankit Patel, who's family owns Quicker Liquor has opened a location in the same strip mall just a unit west of the  liquor store to start taking cans and bottles.

Currently the only options are to travel to Burlington or Mt. Pleasant as repeated attempts to sustain a center in Fort Madison have failed.

Patel said with his connections to distributers the system will run smoother as reimbursements would be more frequent than other ventures have seen.

The state has also increased the reimbursement rate by two cents with legislation passed this year. Patel said that could be the difference that makes the venture worthwhile.

Patel's Redemption is now open with limited hours to see how the business would cash flow.

He said the state is very reluctant to get rid of the redemption program because not everyone recycles and every can or bottle that gets thrown away, the state keeps the deposit.

"They're making bank on this. They're not going to do away with it, but they had to make it more profitable to be redemption center because people were getting so mad about paying it and not being able to redeem them," he said.

His relationships with the distributors makes the reimbursements every three days because that's how often they would be onsite for deliveries. Pop will be a little different in the reimbursement times.

He said the same routes his delivery drivers are on creates consistency that stand alone redemption centers didn't have.

"My money is rotating and I won't be sitting on cans as long as they had to," he said. "And I won't wait as long on reimbursements."

Patel said he wanted to open at the beginning of October, but said the space wasn't ready.

He said the redemption center will have stipulations about the cans being clean and organized. He said if you bring all the same brand in a  bag with 240 cans in the bag, the customer will get $12 on the spot.

He will also be doing 10-can audits on bags to make sure no out of state cans are being hidden. He said if he finds more than two in the audit he can reject the bag, because the state will conduct similar audits on his bags.

"If I'm caught turning in out of state cans they can put me on an audit list and I don't want that."

"240 cans of the same brand and they're clean, the bags not full of liquid or dripping. $12 on the spot. No IOUs like they used to do," he said.

Patel is starting with a certain amount of cash per day for can redemption, but said he will probably have to add more as the business grows. He said every day they are opened they will will accept  cans until the cash is gone, then they will stop accepting cans for the day.

If the business starts to show a good profit margin, he could expand the daily amount, or even the hours.

He said he is also a recommended redemption center for Fareway and Hy-Vee who Patel said are happy to have a the redemption center back open. He said he hasn't found anyone to take the Hy-Vee cans so those have to go back to the retailer currently.

The state requires that any redemption center be open 20 hours a week with at least four hours on the weekend or evening hours.

His starting hours will be Monday through Friday 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and Monday and Wednesday 6-8 p.m. to satisfy the state requirements.

Ankit Patel, redemption center, Fort Madison, beer cans, deposit, recycle, Pen City Current, news,

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