BETHEL — Jenny Vien stood in the middle of her chilly, century-old barn in West Bethel, surrounded by chest-high boxes full of bottles and cans. “That last pickup cleaned me out,” she said with a laugh. But all around her, a sea of glass and aluminum shimmered under the overhead lights – hundreds, maybe thousands of containers still waiting to be sorted, counted, and cashed in.

Vien, owner of Miss Jenny’s B & C Redemption Center, took a chance, opening her redemption center last August after working as a retail manager for several years. Business has been good, she said.

Her trial by fire came her third week in, when a firefighter from Auburn brought a six-bay snowmobile trailer filled with 21,000 bottles.

She said it took a week, in between other customers’ drop-offs, for her to sort it all out. The wide berth just outside her entry allows customers to make very large drop-offs like the one from Auburn. She sent the firefighter a check for $1,000.

Opening the redemption center wasn’t a complete shot in the dark – Vien had some prior experience handling returnable cans and bottles at the general store she and her husband once ran in the same building. But with another redemption center about 20 miles away, the state required her to gather signatures before she could open. She sat outside the barn, and multiple people stopped, happy to sign, she said. She and her husband went to the transfer station and Bethel Village for signatures, too. It wasn’t easy, the State took months to approve the business, she said.

The process of bottle redemption in Maine is straightforward. Customers pay a five-cent deposit when they buy most beverages. Redemption centers like Vien’s refund the nickel and receive 11 cents in return from beverage distributors – earning a six-cent profit per container. For those who stockpile all winter, the payback can be hefty. One woman rolled in with 30, 30-packs of Miller Lite. Another man came bearing 39 six-packs of Mike’s Hard Cider.

Throughout the week, four trucks stop by. Pine State picks up her beer on Mondays. Maine Recycling brings an 18-wheeler for liquor and soda on Tuesdays. Central Wine Distributors comes for wine on Thursdays. Nexcycle’s truck collects water and large juice containers on Fridays. Vien has each category meticulously sorted and ready for pickup. She also has to keep watch for out-of-state containers. People sometimes buy liquor in New Hampshire and consume it in Maine, but those bottles aren’t redeemable.

Most of her business comes locally. Gemini Bakery, Crossroads Diner, and Sunday River house cleaners are among her regulars.

The barn, a former grist mill built around the turn of the last century, has several large rooms and suits the business well. Its location – at the corner of West Bethel Road and Route 2 – draws steady traffic. While Vien works six days a week from 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., her customer hours run Wednesday through Friday, 9 to 5. Her signature seaside-blue and red exterior paint colors catches the eye and draws people in.

By next winter, Vien plans to move into her husband’s man cave at the back of the barn. The unheated space where she works now is cold, but the cement floor in his section will make it safe to install a wood stove that will keep her long days a little cozier.