California Bottle Bill History
| Original Law | 1990 Amendment | 2000 Expansion | AB 28, 2004 | AB 3056, 2006 | SB 1013, 2022 [1] | SB 353, 2023 | Current Law | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act (AB 2020) | |||||||
| Purpose | To encourage recycling and reduce litter | |||||||
| Enacted | 9/29/1986 | |||||||
| Implemented | 9/1/1987 | 1/1/2000 | 1/1/2004 | 1/1/2007 | 1/1/24 | |||
| Beverages Covered | Beer, malt, all soft drinks, fruit drinks, sport drinks, water, coffee & teas, wine & distilled spirits coolers | Expanded to include all non-alcoholic beverages, except milk | Expanded to include wine and spirits, wine coolers with >7% alcohol by volume | Expanded to include 100% fruit juice >46oz & vegetable juice >16oz | Covers all beverages except for milk, medical food, and infant formula | |||
| Containers Covered | Aluminum. glass, plastic and bi-metal. Exempts refillables | wine spirits in a box, bladder, or pouch | Aluminum. glass, plastic and bi-metal. Exempts refillables | |||||
| Amount of Deposit | 1¢ | Amended to 2.5¢ <24 oz and 5¢ >24 oz | increased to (4¢: >24oz.) and (8¢: <24oz.) | increased to (10¢: >24oz.) and (5¢: <24oz.) | added a 25¢ deposit for boxes, bladders, pouches | (5¢: under 24oz), (10¢: 24oz. and greater), 25¢ for wine/spirits in boxes, bladders, pouches | ||
| Redemption Rate | Please refer back to main CA page for most recent redemption rates. | |||||||
| System | State certified redemption centers, registered curbside operations, dropoffs | Added "Dealer Cooperatives" (starting 1/1/25). More about this on the main CA page | State certified recyclers include redemption centers, registered curbside operations, dropoffs; dealer cooperatives | |||||
| Unredeemed Deposits | Property of state: used for program administration and grants to non-profits | Property of program: used for program administration program payments and grants. | ||||||
| Handling Fee | Changed processing payment to 1.8¢ and schedules regular re-evaluations [2] | Handling Fees paid by state to specific handling fee sites. Department will calculate the monthly handling fee at the rate of $0.01158 per beverage container redeemed, as of July 1, 2024. [3] | ||||||
| Other Fees | Beverage manufacturers pay Processing Fees to the State to offset recyclers' costs when the cost of recycling exceeds the value of scrap material. CalRecycle then makes Processing Payments directly to redemption centers. | Changes to processing payments -- gives the option to base payments on the average scrap value from the preceding 3 months, or the prior 12-month average, whichever is lower | Please refer back to main CA page for most recent processing fees and payments. | |||||
| Notes | Containers are returned to licensed redemption centers, not to retailers; Refund value determined by weight for more than 50 containers | Added over $400 million in beverage container grant programs | ||||||
Footnotes[1] Source: Container Recycling Institute & Consumer Watchdog. "CA SB1013 Summary 9/5/22". [2]Source: CalRecycle. "Biannual Report of Beverage Container Sales, Returns, Redemption, and Recycling Rates" May 8, 2015. [3]Source: CalRecycle. "Handling Fee Changes, Effective July 1, 2024” |
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