ANKENY, IOWA — At the very end of the 2023 Iowa Legislative session, lawmakers passed the bottle bill with several goals. One was growing bottle redemption center businesses across the state.
Ames Bottle & Can opened up right after lawmakers made changes to the law. The two owners opening up the part time business with no real expectations on growth potential.
“We recycled seven million containers last year and we’re on track to double that this year,” said Evan Burger, co-owner of Ames and Ankeny Bottle & Can. “So obviously we have a model that really works.”
“We just decided that this thing’s booming, so maybe we should try to do one more,” said Johnathon Vaughn, co-owner of Ames and Ankeny Bottle & Can.
The duo took the moment in Ames and just opened Ankeny Bottle and Can in early July. While some may have grievances with the bottle bill stripping a lot of grocery stores …