Iowa

Name	Beverage Container Deposit Law
Purpose	Litter Control
Enacted	4/1/1978
Implemented	Beer, soft drinks - May 1, 1979; wine/liquor - July 1, 1979
Beverages Covered	Beer, carbonated soft drinks & mineral water, wine coolers, wine & liquor
Containers Covered	any sealed glass, plastic, or metal bottle, can, jar or carton containing a beverage
Amount of Deposit	5¢
Redemption Rate	overall 93% (ii)
Reclamation System	Retail stores and redemption centers
Unredeemed Deposits	Retained by distributor/bottlers
Handling Fee	1¢, paid by distributor to retailer or redemption center

Details

Deposit containers banned from landfills in 1990; retailer can refuse containers if agreement exists w/licensed redemption center.

Iowa redemption center owners are pushing hard for a handling fee increase to help them maintain operations; read about the campaign on the Iowa Campaign Page.

Footnotes

[ii] Iowa DNR, Waste Management Division, as per phone conversation with Jeff Geerts on 8/29/01 (year 2000 estimate).

Updated June 15, 2008