Explaining the Bottle Bill

Because recycling is mandated on a local level, different states can decide how to incentivize participation. One option that has gained popularity is the bottle bill.

The bottle bill allows for consumers to pay an extra charge when purchasing beverage containers. This charge is then totally or partially refunded when the container is recycled at a certified redemption center.

While most programs nationwide will give consumers money for materials such as aluminum, the bottle bill unifies this refund across the state.

Beverage Container Deposits

The first bottle bill was passed in Oregon in 1971. Eleven states currently operate these programs. States differ in how unredeemed deposits are dispersed.

Here’s how the bottle bill works in each state:

• California (imposed September 29, 1986): A five-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by a state-managed fund.
• Connecticut (April 12, 1978): A five-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by distributors/bottlers.
• Delaware (June 30, 1982): A five-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by distributors/bottlers.
• Hawaii (June 25, 2002): Distributors pay a five-cent per container deposit into a special state fund on a monthly basis. Distributors charge retailers the deposit on each container purchased by the retailer, and the retailer in turn charges the consumer the deposit. Unredeemed deposits are retained by a state-managed fund.
• Iowa (April 1978): At least a five-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by distributors/bottlers.
• Maine (January 12, 1976): A five-cent deposit is imposed on beer, soft drink, wine cooler, non-alcoholic carbonated and non-carbonated beverage containers, and a 15-cent deposit is imposed on wine and other liquor beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by the state General Fund.
• Massachusetts (January 1983): A five-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by a state Clean Environment Fund.
• Michigan (November 2, 1976): A 10-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained at 75 percent by a state-managed fund and 25 percent by retailers.
• New York (June 15, 1982): At least a five-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by distributors/bottlers.
• Oregon (July 2, 1971): A two-cent deposit is imposed on all standardized refillable beverage containers, and a 5-cent deposit is imposed on all non-standardized refillable beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by distributors/bottlers.
• Vermont (April 7, 1972): A five-cent deposit is imposed on beer, malt, soft drink, mineral and soda water, and wine cooler beverage containers, and a 15-cent deposit is imposed on liquor beverage containers greater than 50 milliliters. Unredeemed deposits are retained by distributors/bottlers.

These 11 states report higher recycling rates for beverage containers than states without such programs. California, for example, reported a 60 percent recycling rate for its beverage containers between January and December 2006; during that year, over 13 billion containers were recycled, which was 814 million more than the year prior.

California leads the nation in the total quantity of bottles and cans recycled. As well, states with deposit programs have generally maintained higher recycling rates for beverage containers than the U.S. average rate.

Bottle bill opponents call deposit requirements a “tax” fronted by taxpayers. However, one-way, throwaway, no-deposit, no-return beverage containers are a corporate subsidy, a hidden tax. Taxpayers absorb the cost of disposing of beverage containers. And many taxpayers absorb the costs of recycling beverage containers through curbside recycling programs.

When there is a refundable deposit on beverage containers, the consumers (not taxpayers) pay the deposit. The deposit is refunded if the container is returned. And the beverage distributors and bottlers absorb the cost of collection. They then chose whether or not to pass their costs on to their consumers. Because 70 percent or more of the deposit containers are returned, taxpayers pay less for disposal and less for litter pickup and less for curbside recycling.

National Recycling Program

Based on a recent report published by the General Accounting Office on municipal recycling, recycling stakeholders interviewed encouraged, as the second most frequently cited policy option, increasing municipal recycling via adoption of a federal bottle bill. The National Beverage Producer Responsibility Act of 2003 was introduced to the Senate, which referred the bill on November 14 to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

The bill was introduced to the Committee three days later by Senator Jeffords (I-VT), but no action has as yet been taken on the bill.