June 22, 2021
Dermot Hayes, professor, was interviewed in a June 21 NE Iowa News story, "Iowans toss away millions by forsaking nickel deposit on empties."
Dermot Hayes, an Iowa State University professor of economics and finance who wrote the 2018 “Modernizing the Iowa Bottle Bill” report, said no similar survey since has been conducted. But he noted Iowa’s recycling rate has declined by about 2 percent annually so that consumer “loss” likely is closer to $40 million on unredeemed containers—with a similar rise in the net “windfall profits” to distributors.