Michigan man facing prison for alleged Seinfeld-esque bottle deposit scheme

Recycled aluminum cans.
(Image credit: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images)

It didn't work for Kramer and Newman, and prosecutors say it also didn't work for a man found with 10,000 empty cans in the back of a rented Budget truck.

In Michigan, recyclers receive 10 cents for the bottles they return, a higher refund than in most states where it is 5 cents. Under Michigan's bottle deposit law, it is illegal to recycle bottles and cans purchased out of state, with the maximum sentence being five years in prison. Prosecutors say that this is exactly what Brian Everidge planned to do when he was pulled over about 40 miles away from Detroit in April for speeding. The trooper said he found more than 10,000 aluminum cans in the back of Everidge's truck, and Everidge told him they were from Kentucky and "his intent was to return them; he just didn't say where he was going to return them."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.