California Bottle Bill History

  Original Law 1990 Amendment 2000 Expansion AB 28, 2004 AB 3056, 2006 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  
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     beer, malt, wine & distilled spirits coolers, all non-alcoholic beverages, except milk
Containers Covered Aluminum. glass, plastic and bi-metal. Exempts refillables         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.) (10¢: >24oz.) and (5¢: <24oz.)
Redemption Rate         overall 61%; aluminum 73%; glass 58%; PET 46%; HDPE 51% [f] Recycling rates as of June 2009:
Overall 85%
aluminum 91% percent,
glass 85%
#1 PET 78%
#2 HDPE 116 percent
#3 PVC 0%
#4 LDPE 2%
#5 PP 1%
#6 PS 2%
#7 other 13%
bimetal 16%
See Biannual Report of Beverage Container Sales, Returns, Redemption, and Recycling Rates for more stats.
Reclamation System State certified redemption centers, registered curbside operations, dropoffs         State certified redemption centers, registered curbside operations, dropoffs
Unredeemed Deposits Property of state: used for program administration and grants to non-profits         Property of state: used for program administration and grants to non-profits
Handling Fee Beverage manufacturers pay Processing Fees to offset recyclers costs when the cost of recycling exceeds the value of material. Processing Payments paid by state to redemption centers.       Changed processing payment to 1.8¢ and schedules regular re-evaluations (b)
  • Handling Fees paid by state to supermarket sites, nonprofit convenience zone recyclers, and rural region recyclers.(b)
  • Processing Fees are paid by distributors to the Department, and Processing Payments are made to all certified recyclers when the cost of recycling exceeds the value of material.(p)
View Legislation            
Notes Containers are returned to licensed redemption centers, not to retailers; Refund value determined by weight for more than 50 containers          

Footnotes

[b] Requires the Dept to conduct a cost survey during 2007, and every two years thereafter, to determine future handling fee payments. Effective 7/1/08 the Department will determine the amount of the handling fee to be paid for each beverage container by subtracting the cost per container (for recycling centers that do not receive handling fees) from the costs per container of those that do receive handling fees.

[f] California Department of Conservation, Division of Recycling, 11/04 (Jan.-June 2004 rates).