| ebec, thieves working in the dead of night made | | | | missing kegs. CITY Beverage was not alone in the |
| away with sections of roofs, gutters, and wiring | | | | significant funds we expended to replace the stolen |
| made of copper from four Quebec City churches. In | | | | kegs. It is an industry-wide problem." |
| metro Atlanta, Georgia, reports of air conditioning | | | | Roger Bushnell, Ferrous Processing & |
| thefts from a few home and commercial sites are | | | | Trading‘s (FPT) Vice President of |
| cause for concern. Meanwhile, mobile phone base | | | | Non–Ferrous Metals, learned of this concern |
| station equipment has been destroyed as the result | | | | soon after it developed. "Because of our relationship |
| of theft of the copper wire and feedline. This | | | | with sister companies CITY Beverage and Kalamazoo |
| widespread problem of metal theft has had a | | | | Beer Distributing, FPT quickly became involved in |
| significant impact on the recycling industry and other | | | | spreading awareness to our industry. The |
| businesses whose supplies or equipment have been | | | | wide–ranging portfolio of |
| deemed valuable by unscrupulous individuals looking to | | | | companies…allowed us to gain knowledge of the |
| cash in on the rising price of metal. | | | | growing number of keg thefts early on." |
| In fact, the increased price of stainless steel has | | | | Industry associations have now joined together to |
| brought a shared problem for two diverse, and | | | | actively deter the illegal practice. In July 2007, the |
| seemingly unrelated, industries: scrap recyclers and | | | | Beer Institute, the Institute of Scrap Recycling |
| beer distributors. As the scrap value of kegs has | | | | Industries, Inc., and the Brewers Association issued a |
| become higher than the deposit, thieves, dishonest | | | | joint letter to recyclers with the simple message: |
| consumers and, in some cases, retailers, have | | | | "Don‘t accept beer kegs at your facility." The |
| redeemed the metal barrels at scrap recycling yards | | | | letter also provided window stickers warning |
| instead of returning them to the rightful owners. In | | | | would–be thieves that beer kegs should be |
| 2007, beer makers say they lost hundreds of | | | | returned to local beer wholesalers or retailers. |
| thousands of kegs and millions of dollars as the | | | | "If there is no available market, the kegs will be |
| stainless steel holders of brew are stolen and sold for | | | | returned to the retailer, and ultimately, the |
| scrap. | | | | distributor," noted Bushnell. In Michigan, brewers were |
| The problem can be twofold as keg-buying | | | | recently allowed to raise the keg deposit and the |
| customers opt to forgo their deposits, which can | | | | market is correcting itself. Illinois legislators have |
| range from $10 to $30, knowing they can cover that | | | | passed a bill that becomes law on August 18, 2007 |
| expense, and then some, if they sell to scrap dealers. | | | | making it illegal for scrap recyclers to accept kegs. |
| Given current metal trading prices, a keg could fetch | | | | "All kegs are stamped with the owners’ name. |
| from $15 to $55 or more at scrap yards. | | | | Anyone attempting to redeem them will have to |
| "Beginning in 2005, we started noticing a pronounced | | | | prove ownership," detailed Dowd. "This new law will |
| loss of kegs during our annual audit by | | | | help us to get our arms around this problem." |
| Anheuser-Busch," explained Mike Dowd, Vice | | | | Sister company FPT is doing its part to stop the |
| President and General Manager for CITY | | | | unwelcome practice. "Our ongoing and historical policy |
| Beverage-Markham. "Distributors are billed for the | | | | is not to accept kegs," Bushnell firmly noted. |
