Dive Brief:

• Two recycling centers in California must pay over $2 million in restitution and penalties as a result of a  string of illegal claims for California Redemption Value (CRV) payments.

• Paper Rush, based in San Francisco and Recycle Today, a company from Oakland, were removed from the state beverage container recycling program after an investigation conducted by the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. (CalRecycle)

• Both facilities were found to have collected almost $2 million for ineligible materials; the containers were not inspected, poor record-keeping was rampant and fraudulent reports were filed.

Dive Insight:

Both facilities were owned and operated by June Tran Nahn and Hugo Centeno. A judge revoked the center's certification and honored the department's request by ordering the companies to pay penalties and reimbursement costs to the program. The state of California has recently announced new daily limits on recyclables in order to reduce fraud.