Can Drive Fundraiser in New York

New York pays a 5¢ deposit on beer, soda, water, and wine coolers — which means 2,000 containers to hit $100, and 10,000 to hit $500. That sounds like a lot until you price the volume: a single large trash bag holds 200–300 containers. Three full bags is roughly $35–45. New York also has one of the most active container-collecting cultures in the country, so the habit is already established in donors' homes.

The Math in New York

Every can-drive decision comes down to one number: what New York pays you per container. At 5¢, here is exactly what your team has to collect.

• A grocery bag (30–40 containers) is worth about $1.75.
• A large trash bag (about 250 containers) is worth roughly $13.
• A full garage — 40 large bags — is around $500, which is how a single weekend reaches banquet money.

Set the goal from the units. A team targeting $500 knows it needs 10,000 containers — and can plan the route around that number instead of hoping.

Where to Redeem in New York

Retailer returns + independent redemption centers — No state-run bag system. Bulk loads go to independent redemption centers; smaller batches go through grocery store reverse vending machines.

• New York redeems at any retailer that sells the beverage, at in-store reverse vending machines, and at independent redemption centers that take bulk loads — the fastest route for a large drive.
• Retailers must accept returns of the container types they sell, but they can cap how many they take per person per day, which is why a big haul usually goes to a redemption center instead of the corner store.
• New York legislation to raise the deposit to 10¢ and expand the container list has been active for several years. If it passes, the same drive that raises $500 today raises $1,000 — worth watching if your team runs one every season.
• Because the deposit is only 5¢, the money in a New York can drive comes from volume, not from value per can. That makes the drop-and-collect model far more important than sorting.

Why New York Teams Run Can Drives

The pitch to a New York donor is simple and true: 2,000 containers pays $100, and the deposit is money they were never going to claim anyway. Volume is the whole game.

The appeal is the same everywhere in New York: nothing to sell, nothing to buy, no cash asked from families. Donors hand over containers they already paid a deposit on and were probably never going to redeem — and the team gets paid for the trip.

What the Team Actually Does

A can drive asks for a few hours of team time, not a season: containers are collected from local households in New York, sorted, and redeemed in one trip to Retailer returns + independent redemption centers.

The containers are free. What decides the result is whether the households on your route actually set their containers aside for you — a communication job, not a collection job, and the one piece worth getting right before you print anything.

And whatever the total, write it down. Knowing your real number is what turns a one-off drive into a fundraiser your club schedules every year.

What to Watch Out For in New York

• In-state containers only. Deposits belong to the state where the beverage was bought. Loading a truck from across the border is deposit fraud — and states are increasingly checking.
• Know what's not covered. Beer, soda, water, and wine coolers carry a deposit; anything outside that list counts as zero. Keep non-covered containers out of the load so your count stays clean.
• Redemption caps. Many retailers limit how many containers one person can return in a day. That's why a bulk load goes to a redemption center rather than the corner store.
• Sort before you go. In New York the containers worth the most are the ones people forget to set aside — wine and liquor bottles pay up to 15¢ in some states, and larger containers pay double in California.

New York Can Drive FAQ

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