Absolutely horrific experience. I came at 450pm with 2 small grocery-sized bags so it shouldn't be too bad. This is my first time so I was asking to see where I should put my items. When I politely asked, the older woman just stared at me and walked away - so much so that another woman saw the interaction and helped direct me to bins that I could use as she left. I saw that the bins said no glass so I was waiting for the older lady to help point out to me which ones I could use for glass bottles. As I stood there, she basically yells at me "closed!" And I'm confused and she tells a man and he translates to me that she's closed at 5pm. I say but I've been here since 450pm patiently waiting. And he later translated that she doesn't care; it's 5pm and she's leaving. This whole interaction was rude and embarrassing and not helpful in any way. Never coming back. read more

I will never come back here. The customer service was terrible. I was the only customer when I arrived, yet after waiting more than 10 minutes, I asked when someone could help me. The older woman and the younger woman completely ignored me. In total, I waited 20 minutes. Instead of giving cash like other recycling places, they gave me a voucher for $8.75 to use at the 99 Ranch Market. Very disappointing experience. read more

No thank you. RUDE very little amount of bins. Don't mistakenly use any of the bins not labeled "for customer use" if it's lying around... or else you will get an ear full from the person working. All the patrons were Chinese and the person tending would speak Chinese to everyone BUT ME.... Straight up ignored me when I would speak to her IN HER NATIVE LANGUAGE. It also took forever.... I learned my lesson and now I go to the recycling place on technology behind the Costco. They are soooo much more pleasant and I find I get a lot more for my recycling there. read more

Saving the environment is not worth this. NO amount of money is worth this. Rude service and endless line to collect. I mean, it is not nuclear physics and granted the physical labor, no need to make the experience as horrific. And no wonder you are short on cashiers when you omit have 2 working lines of 20 people. read more

I came to this recycling center early on a Friday morning so there was no line. I probably should have looked up reviews before I came but I didn't. When I arrived, I used the clearly marked bins for customer use. The worker took my bins and removed any non recyclable items that weren't marked for "CA Cash Refund". Afterwards she calculated everything and wrote it in her book. The worker didn't say a word to me, just pointed. It was a bit odd because I didn't know exactly what she was asking me to do so I was sightly confused. I also wasn't aware that it wouldn't be a cash refund but instead a voucher for 99 ranch. The reason why I chose 3 stars is because for the amount of recycling I had, I got such a small amount in return. I had previously went to another recycling in Santa Ana and received way more back but for less recycle. read more

So terrible. I have used this center more than 3 years. Finally, I recognized their pricing. They paid 1 cent per grass which is different from their pricing. They are playing with us. Previously I did not check them. Today I happened to see the old RUDE lady' calculation. Please check how much she pays you for per bottle. PLEASE BE CAREFUL. read more

I appreciate the recycling center as it's still operating and runs smoothly; many other places are closed permanently or temporarily due to Covid-19. This center is conveniently located behind 99 Ranch, and I had positive experience each time I came here, in and out in about 15-20 minutes. The staff and patrons have the CRV redemption process down to an efficient routine while observing social distance: 1. Bring your recyclables to one of the marked "X" spots to wait in line. 2. Load the recyclables into the empty bins marked "Customer Use - no glass" by material type (aluminum cans, plastic bottles, bimetal cans, etc). For glass bottles, use or bring your own cardboard carton. Keep in mind that the patrons before you should use the bins first. 3. Wait for the staff to weigh in your stuff on the scale and calculate the redemption value. NOTE: In order to receive the California Redemption Value (CRV), the item must be labeled "CA Cash Refund;" if you include milk cartons or other non-CRV items, it will be discarded into "no CRV" bin. 4. Sign on the voucher. 5. Bring your voucher to 99 Ranch to redeem within 30 days. I didn't encounter the rude staff that other yelpers mentioned; this center is as good as any other centers in the area. The bins are clearly marked and labeled, and there isn't much of verbal exchange between the staff/patron during the redemption process. All the items are being weighed to save time. If you follow the steps listed above, you should have a positive experience too. Recycle, get paid, and do something good for planet earth, easy peasy! TIP: Go early in the morning when it's cooler and pre-sort your items ahead of time. read more

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After reading some of the very negative reviews I think the operator must have improved the flow of the operation coz on a Saturday morning the queueing was minimum and super efficient with taking in the bottles, glasses, cans. They have all the big black tubes labeled for 'customer only' and 'no glasses'. Everything is well lay out. It's a much more spacious and airy location. Once the 'Cheque' was made, just walk to 99 Ranch supermarket customer service and get the cash. The two staff were pleasant - yes, minimum English but enough to get the job done. Am happy and will definitely use this as my regular recycling spot. read more

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First of all their cans are all bottomless so it was hard to find 3 then they robbed me! I got $16 for the same amount actually I had more about 1/3 more and plastics whereas in SA last week I had way less and no plastic and I got $24 BIG DIFFERENCE! Total rip-off don't go here! read more

I've been here a couple of times. I've read the reviews and it seems like people want instructions? I think even first timers could figure it out. The bins say plastic or glass or cans. Take your items pre-sorted and it's easy to pour them into the bins. The older couple is polite and was helpful when I needed help. They got me more bins when I ran out and I didn't even have to ask for them. Quick and easy. Not sure why people are so negative. Recycle your stuff and get on with it! :) read more

I drove around looking for the place and found it behind the 99 Ranch. Nice old man was there. I was helped pretty fast. He definitely doesn't speak English, and when I tried to tell him I wanted him to count the cans in Mandarin, he either didn't hear me, didn't understand or didn't care. He threw it all in a bin and weighed it. I didn't care enough to correct him. I received a certificate to use in the 99 Ranch. No option for cash, or again we had language barrier. I got under $2.50 for 50 cans plus a few plastic bottles so I think getting it counted would have been better! Might try again and be clearer with what I wanted and see if its better. read more

Bionet - Recycling Center Near Me - Irvine, California

I arrived this place 2 minutes passed closing time, the owner couples were doing cleanup, I wasn't expecting them to take my bottles because I am fully aware that it's closed. Since I was there, I still approached to ask politely what time they open the next day, the husband ignored me twice, I then spoke to the wife, she didn't even bother to answer by taking to me back, she use hand signal. I've decided to take my bottles to somewhere else farther, I don't care if I get paid less, I am not giving business to this place. read more

I always see this recycling spot from the freeway and the line is always minimal so I decided to try recycling here. I should've read the reviews beforehand. The old lady that works here is truly the worst. I understand the Chinese "customer service" and the old people grumpiness but she's beyond that. There's no instructions on how to separate your recyclables. The trash bins just say no glass. So what do I do with glass? She just grunted at me and pointed to a pile of trash. Someone from the line told me I had to put my glass in her cardboard box instead of mine. Ok.... so I do that and throw away my trash in a trash bin that clearly has trash. She comes back and throws my trash back at me then she's still grunting around to communicate and gives me my voucher and basically walks me to my trash and gestures this "now get your sh*t and go" motion. Needless to say I will not be back to recycle with her. I'd rather put my recyclables one by one into a machine like a peasant than deal with her again for 10min read more

Their system of recycling is too antiquated. Not only does it take more than 20 minutes to process your recyclables once you are finished you have to go inside the 99 cent market to exchange a voucher they give you. This adds another 10 ministra min. Over all too long for 15 dollars of cans. Recycling in Irvine just got harder. So sad read more

I have no problem with the old lady who works there. Get in and get out for about 15mins. Convenient spot and easy parking. read more

The lady that works here is either super rude or has mental health issues. I've been here 3 times and has very unpleasant experiences here. She just yells at you in foreign language and does not attempt to speak English whatsoever. Never going here again. read more

Located off the 5-fwy on Walnut and Jeffrey. I came here on Saturday morning some time ago to redeem my . Waited in a line of about 4 people (includes myself). One attendant working the bin measurements that made sure no liquids were in bottles or other plastics like milk bottles, detergent bottles, etc were in people's bins so weight would be accurate. It took about 15-20 minutes to get to the front of the line to get my stuff weighed. Note: To make it easier and quicker, I crush my cans and bottles beforehand and have them sorted in separate bags before going. This is probably not neccessary for the attendant but it saves me from using too many trash bags, space in my car, and also is more convenient than lugging around 5 trash bags of uncrushed plastic bottles when it could really be just 2 bags. Redemption is at the 99 ranch market around the front. read more

This is the new recycling center from the old 99 Ranch location at Culver since probably March. There are 2 employees there: 1. There is a small old asian woman who is usually yelling in Mandarin. She is always in a bad mood and openly hostile with her body language. I was putting my items that were sorted in the metal bin to be weighed and she was yelling something that I couldnt understand. I've had my items weighed in the past. Just let me put my things in the bin, check the weight and mark it down. 2. There is a young why guy with light brown curly hair. He rides an old bicycle that is propped up against the wall and usually wears a hoodie with black pants and shoes. He is more friendly, but he is the laziest employee in Orange County.....maybe even in the State of California now that I think about it. The recycling hours are changing all the time, however; "now" it is 9:00am-3:00pm with a lunch break from 1-1:30pm. This guy keeps constantly looking at his watch, and I arrived there around noon (1 hr before break and he kept looking at his watch and started telling people that he wouldn't take their recycling at 12:30pm. That is 30 minutes before your "break", so customers have 30 minutes to bring their items. If you don't want to work, then quit your job. You are being paid for the time to process the recycling items. If you are going to quit your job 30 minutes early, then you can get paid 30 minutes less. I only blame the employees 50% percent, their unwillingness to work is very obvious and it shows. I blame the other 50% on the company and the managers who put up with the kind of attitude of these 2. They must have really scraped the bottom of the barrel to manage to have them both. read more

I came here around 3 pm on Friday. I am not going to bother recycling anymore. This old Chinese lady who works there is a very unpleasant person. She does not speak any English at all, but you can tell she is very grumpy and she often screams something in Mandarin. She tried to attack me with one of the barrels because I placed the plastic barrel on top of the scale. There was a sign with operating hours that were completely different from the website. She arbitrarily changed the hours to 9 to 3 pm. She kept screaming something in nonsense language pointing at the new operating hours. I was already there and she was extremely annoying to deal with. read more

Lady that works there takes certain bottles and she doesn't take milk cartons. Additionally, she doesn't speak any English.

1. Sort your recyclables yourself. This means separate the 5 cent water bottles from the 10 cent water bottles. Same goes for the glass and the aluminums. 2. Sorting plastics- know your plastics. There are usually numbers imprinted at the bottom of your plastic. The coke bottles and juice bottles are not the same plastics. Make sure all bottles are thoroughly emptied too! 3. The lady probably owns the place and probably has a rough time recently, since the place is stacked sky high with bags of recyclables. I would think she has a difficult time hiring a cheap trucker to haul the junk. 4. The place closes at 5pm. But don't show up at 4:48 and expect service. Be courteous and if you can't make it by 4:30pm don't go. And if you have a huge haul get there by 4pm. 5. Avoid 12pm to 1:30pm lunch hour. 6. Don't have service expectations. She can't be a happy person because she handles junk all day, 7 days/week (PS I've been yelled at a few times by her, but I look at her work and I understand). 7. If you drop off your recyclables as donations to the old lady you'll get service. read more

Won't recycle anymore. Just not worth the hassle. We arrived, the little lady working was throwing bottles out for the customer Before us. He would go back and put back in to be weighed as the bottle said crv $.05. He showed her the label, he showed her the sign--none of which she cared. She couldn't speak one word of English. She finished up with him and now 45 min later it's our turn. Cans nd bottles all separated. She take the plastics and dumps them on the weigh machine.....stops, undumps the bottles....and says lunch 30 minute and leaves! It was amazing experience. We gave our 6 bags to others who were going to wait for her to return. Worst service not worth the money. I'll just sort in my trash can and forget about the cash. read more

Located behind 99 Ranch Market. The recycling center does not have automated machines but rather is manned by a little old Chinese guy. Very nice but he doesn't speak English so be prepared to use hand gestures if you don't speak Chinese. You will receive credit for your recycled bottles & cans in the form of a voucher that can only be redeemed at 99 Ranch. Voucher is valid for 30 days from date of issue. I was going to give it 3-stars because it's a bit dirty and smells like trash due to it's location behind the store but I bumped it up an extra star because I feel bad for the little old man that works very hard despite the conditions. read more

I took a few bags to this location just to watch the worker sit on his butt and stare at me for 20 minutes. It wasn't until another customer showed up when he decided to get up, but only to help that customer and sit down again and stare at me. Depending on the worker, this can happen to you. What upsets me about this is you get a paper that you take to the 99 Ranch Market, wait in line and the cashier gives you your money. I'm tired of having to deal with poor customer support, and when I recycle the same amount of items at other locations I get more money for them. Don't waste your time with this location. read more

Awesome lady. She is very nice. Yes she speaks limited English so maybe there is a barrier. It's a tough job so let's just all work together! read more

Behind the 99RanchMarket, first time here, its thursday afternoon, nobody but me, comparing to Ralphs recycler machines the good: Saves time as you dump the bottles in a basket and the lady weighs it the bad: It looks shady, just behind the market, next to a shipping container the ugly: makes you feel cheap read more

After my last update about a month ago (I also got a private message where the sender asked me to update my review), this place changed their time again! It is now closed on Monday and Wednesday. In other words, my first very review of this place has the correct schedule. Below is my old review - which is not applicable anymore!!! "It is now closed on Sunday and Monday. There are a lot of people waiting (waiting time about 10 ~20 minutes) on the weekend." read more

Since another recycle center nearby (near Ralph) is closing down, I tried to go to this place behind the 99 ranch. IT WAS SO TERRIBLE. The receptionist barely speaks English and so mean. Worst customer service. Usually, at the other places, I got around 30-40 bucks for big 5,6 bags. But the price here is way too off. She tried to take advantage on the amount of recycle. We only got 8 buck for 6 heavy bags. AVOID THIS IF YOU CAN. !!!!! read more

At 1:00, I was the first person in line. The worker, an elderly woman at a minimum was rude and at worst racist. Upon her return from lunch at 1:30, instead of helping a growing a line of customers with a lot of bottles, she proceeded to empty numerous boxes of glass bottles and present those boxes to a customer who was maybe 5th or 6th in line. Upon weighing my items and completing the ticket form, she gave me a bag to hold while she proceeded to put plastic bottles in a bag. I declined because I'm not an employee of the business and my ticket was completed and I had other errands to run. When I declined and asked for my ticket, she declined and instead being to fill additional bags with bottle. when I took a moment to call the call the phone number listed for the center and looked back, she began to change the amount due on my ticke. She had placed a glass bottle on the scale and indicated that she deducted the amount. I left a voice message for the center, but have not heard back. I will never do business at this location or business again. I'll be following up with the city, as I saw no business license posted. read more

terrible service. The man who worked before was cordial, polite, and treated customers with respect. However, the woman who works there now tries to give people a hard time on purpose (e.g. not counting bottles without labels saying that they cannot recycle those but later on puts them in the same large bin with the rest of the bottles, being rude to customers). Is out to scam people of their money. Suggest taking all your recyclables to the place behind mitsuwa read more

If I could give this place a minus star I would! First of all the center said it opened at 10 AM and the women did not arrive until a few minutes after and then proceed to set up for another 15 minutes with no regard to those of us waiting. As she began with the first customer she use her broom to push him aside and was trying very hard to be intimidated to all of us! When I asked her why she DID NOT WEIGH my glass she screamed something at me and proceeded to pound her finger at the number she wrote for the weight of my glass bottles! Interesting at my last recycling center for approximately the same quantity of recyclables I was refunded more? I don't feel her scales are accurate!!! read more

I honestly don't know why people like this place now. Back in 2011, I know the man who worked there was much more gentle and helpful than that of this hag who works there now! Why I say that? Recently we went there coming back from Poland to recycle a year's worth of recycled bottles that we left over while in the States, took us a long time to load all bottles in the car. Of course, that isn't the worst. It was the sour, putrid attitude of that hag who works there! She shouts at me in Chinese about miscounting the bottles then INTENTIONALLY TOOK OUT THE ORANGE JUICE JUGS THAT WERE WITH CHARGED CRV OF 10 CENTS EACH!!!! Honestly, how can someone with this attitude do business?! She's trying to be the cheapest "Hardworking hag" that this world has to offer! Never encountered someone like that in the recycle centre!! I'd rather next time drive all the way to La Puente than in this dump! We got dissed on, disrespected on, and despised on! It's ridiculous that there's still ignorant people who does that! read more

Recycling is a tough business. Lots of petty, entitled people who aren't educated to what is CRV and what isn't so I educated myself. I noticed here that people who recycle here are ridiculous, ill-mannered ,demanding, and impatient. The people who take the recycling seem to get bullied and yelled at for the stupidest reasons. I have never experienced any of the things that the complainers in the other reviews are complaining about. When I give respect and patience, I usually get it back. Thank you. read more

Behind 99 ranch! It's cool and fast service. The guy who help me was very kind and polite. I got 8 bucks for my bottles yahoo!! Easy parking as well. read more

I went there on a Saturday afternoon. It was the first and the last time. The attendant was a young boy with a very bad attitude. Why go there when there are many alternatives with courteous attendants? read more

The boys works there has a very bad attitude towards Chinese customers.Because this one happens to be just behind 99 Ranch, so it's convenient for me to go there since I often shop at the 99 Ranch anyway. But what I had encountered just now made me decide not to go there ever again. First, the boy who works in this recycling is not always around. To be exact, I guess most of the time he is still in this shopping plaza, but not in the recycling place. He likes cycling,but he likes bicycle cycling not recycling bottles. This morning when he saw me carrying a lot of plastic bottles running towards him, he still happily rode on his bicycle and turned away. After waiting for about 15 minutes, he cycled back to this recycling place. When I pulled out all my bottles into his container, he looked at the scale,and wrote $3.90. I told him it should be around $7.00. All of the sudden, he got angry, and immediately said" You take away." So, I had to take away the bottles and went to another recycling center. This time, I just used a machine, it was $7.15. It's not much money, but the problem is why someone hates this job so much still gets to keep this job. Maybe he should work as a bicycling coach or work at a bicycle shop, since what he really enjoys is bike cycling not bottle cycling. read more

This place pays a little better than other places, however I have to spend about 5 times as much time there because they make me separate every single beer bottle by color and I have to place each one individually into one of their boxes and they weigh each beer bottle, whether its green, brown, or clear all 3 colors must be separated even though they're all glass. This is the only place that has made me do this and it's so time-consuming that I would have to bring 50 pounds of glass to earn $1.20 more than more than most other places however I'll spend 20 minutes placing the bottles into their boxes and separating them out. I don't have enough room at home to separate each glass by color, it makes it really inconvenient for recycling beer bottles just so you know! But this place pays a little more! But the place by OCC make you take the caps off all your plastic bottles so I suppose each place has it's pros and cons. read more