Urban myths have tremendous staying power. In today’s article, we take an investigative look at the idea that saving up soda can tabs can bring in cash via recyclers or various non-profit organizations.
The short answer is: Not really.
People still collect pop- (or pull-) tabs believing that they can get reimbursed for the tabs in cash, and, what’s more, that the value of the tabs would be worth more than the actual soda can itself.
The latter idea defies simple logic. Scrap metal is worth more in recycling value based on the volume of metal, so pull tabs will, obviously, be worth less than the cans from which they were attached.
As for redemption to non-profits, there’s some truth here. Some organizations do accept pull tabs for redemption, but no more so than cans themselves. According to Snopes, “While a handful of charitable concerns (including McDonald’s Ronald McDonald House and Shriners Hospitals for Children) accept donations of can tabs, said tabs fetch such groups no more than the items’ ordinary recycle value.”
I asked Rachel Gattuso, marketing and communications manager of the local area Ronald McDonald House, about it. She said they do not have a program in place to accept tabs, but they receive regular inquiries about such a program and encounter people who bring in pull tabs expecting a redemption, which actually costs them in resources to deliver to a recycling facility.
“We field a hand full of phone calls a week, which isn’t problematic, but it does represent a lot of kind individuals who are still under the impression that pop-tabs will be a boon to the charity of their choice,” said Gattuso. “A lot of people put a lot of work into their collections, so watching or listening to their reactions when we explain the actual value of the long hours they put in can be heartbreaking. Sometimes it costs more in postage to mail them in than for what they’d actually net.”
For most of us the opportunity cost of saving pull tabs, and even cans, would not pencil out with redemption rates and probably is not worth the time or drive to a recycling center. That’s not to say aluminum should not be recycled — it should, but expecting a cash payout for pull tabs or anything other than large volumes of aluminum will not likely bring a sizable return.
“If you’re really interested in helping your favorite non-profits, give them a call to see what they really, truly need before you spend hours on a collection effort,” said Gattuso. “It might be canned food, it might be sanitary gloves for their volunteers, it might be straight-up donations. But their suggestions will give you the best idea of how you can make the most difference.”
