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. Excludes vegetable juices over 16oz.
Containers Covered Aluminum. glass, plastic and bi-metal. Exempts refillables         Aluminum. glass, plastic and bi-metal. Exempts refillables
Amount of Deposit Amended to 2.5¢ <24 oz and 5¢ >24 oz   increased to (4¢: >24oz.) and (8¢: <24oz.) increased to (10¢: >24oz.) and (5¢: <24oz.) (5¢: under 24oz.) and (10¢: 24oz. and greater)
Redemption Rate         overall 61%; aluminum 73%; glass 58%; PET 46%; HDPE 51% [f] 2014 recycling rates (January–December):[c]
Overall 80%
Aluminum 96%
Glass 76% 
#1 PET 70%
#2 HDPE 70% 
#3 PVC 18% 
#4 LDPE 2%
#5 PP 13% 
#6 PS 17%
#7 other 4% 
Bimetal 26%
Reclamation System State certified redemption centers, registered curbside operations, dropoffs         State certified recyclers include redemption centers, registered curbside operations, dropoffs
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 (b) Handling Fees paid by state to specific handling fee sites. Department will calculate the monthly handling fee at the rate of $0.01046 per beverage container redeemed.(a)
Other Fees 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.         Processing Fees 2015 (paid by beverage manufactorers to the Department, per container sold)[b]
Glass:$0.00192
#1 PET:$0.00012
#2 HDPE:$0.00172
#3 PVC:$0.02821
#4 LDPE:$0.01119
#5 PP:$0.04795
#6 PS:$0.00210
#7 Other Plastic:$0.08939
Bimetal:$0.03145

Processing Payments 2015 (made to all certified recyclers when the cost of recycling exceeds the value of material, per ton redeemed.)[b]
Glass: $97.61
#1 PET : $143.33
#2 HDPE: $225.32
#3 PVC: $972.30
#4 LDPE: $1,397.74
#5 PP: $1,298.47
#6 PS: $734.63
#7 Other Plastic: $852.61
Bimetal: $677.41
View Legislation            
Notes Containers are returned to licensed redemption centers, not to retailers; Refund value determined by weight for more than 50 containers          

Footnotes

[a]Source: CalRecycle. "Handling Fee Changes, Effective July 1, 2015” (Updated) June 11th, 2015

[b]Source: Calrecycle. "2015 Processing Payments Adjustments." June 15th, 2015.

[c]Source: CalRecycle. "Biannual Report of Beverage Container Sales, Returns, Redemption, and Recycling Rates" May 8th, 2015.