One family pocketed $7.6 million by taking cans and bottles from Arizona and recycling them in California. That's fraud, prosecutors say.

• Prosecutors say a family that made $7.6 million from recycling defrauded the state of California.
• The family, based in Southern California, is accused of recycling materials they purchased in Arizona.
• Investigators recovered more than $1 million worth of "illegally imported beverage containers."

A California family that earned millions of dollars just by recycling cans and bottles is now being accused of multiple felonies that could lead to years behind bars.

In a felony complaint filed this month, state prosecutors charged eight family members in Riverside County with defrauding the state by importing used bottles and cans from Arizona — some 178 tons over the span of 8 months — and recycling them in California. 

The recycling operation earned the family $7.6 million, according to a statement from the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Investigators also found a stash of "illegally imported beverage containers" worth another $1 million

When someone purchases a plastic or aluminum bottle in California, they typically pay an extra 5 to 10 cents in "California Redemption Value," or CRV, which the consumer can get back if they return the items to one of the state's more than 1,200 recycling centers. Arizona has no such program. 

"California's recycling program is funded by consumers, and helps protect our environment and our communities," Bonta said. "Those who try to undermine its integrity through criminal operations will be held accountable."

In the criminal complaint, prosecutors specifically accuse the family members of unlawfully conspiring to commit grand theft and, on a "chronic and ongoing basis," defrauding the California recycling program by seeking reimbursement for out-of-state containers, as well as containers that had already been redeemed within California.

Felony grand theft in California is punishable by up to three years in a state prison. Redeeming out-of-state containers, to the degree the family is accused, could also land the accused behind bars for another three years.

Court documents did not identify an attorney for the defendants, who have not been convicted of a crime.

Last year, six people were charged in a similar Arizona-to-California recycling scheme that, according to prosecutors, netted more than $10 million by fraudulently redeeming more than nine tons of empty beverage containers.

Between 2010 and 2019, at least 93 people in California were convicted of recycling fraud, according to a report by the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog.

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