California

Name California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act (AB 2020)
Purpose To encourage recycling and reduce litter; Program goal of 80% recycling rate
Enacted 9/29/1986
Implemented 9/1/1987
Beverages Covered beer, malt, coolers containing wine and coolers containing spirits, all non-alcoholic beverages, except milk. Excludes vegetable juices over 16oz.
Containers Covered Aluminum. glass, plastic and bi-metal. Exempts refillables
Amount of Deposit (5¢: under 24oz.) and (10¢: 24oz. and greater)
Reclamation System State certified recyclers include redemption centers, registered curbside operations, dropoffs
Unredeemed Deposits Property of program: used for program administration program payments and grants.
Handling Fee

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


Processing Payments for 2nd Qtr 2017 (made to all certified recyclers when the cost of recycling exceeds the value of material, per ton redeemed.)[b]
Glass: $99.94
#1 PET: $225.11
#2 HDPE: $287.37
#3 PVC: $705.64
#4 LDPE: $1,147.37
#5 PP: $1,007.11
#6 PS: $632.16
#7 Other Plastic: $694.91
Bimetal: $623.06

Program success

Calendar Year 2017 redemption rates: [e]
Aluminum 84%
Glass 69% #1
PET 73% #2
HDPE 64%
All materials/Overall 75%

FY 2017 redemption rates (July 2016 - June 2017):[c]
Aluminum 87%
Glass 70%
#1 PET 74%
#2 HDPE 64%
All materials/Overall 77%

FY 2016 redemption rates (July 2015 - June 2016):[d]
Aluminum 92%
Glass 74%
#1 PET 78%
#2 HDPE 70%
All materials/Overall 81%

Details

  1. Distributors pay a per container fee (CRV) of 5¢ <24 oz and 10¢ >24 oz into a state fund. (The fee was originally 1¢ for all containers and was amended in 1990 to 2.5¢<24 oz and 5¢>24 oz, in 2003 to 4¢ and 8¢, and in 2007 to 5 and 10¢.)
  2. Consumers pay a deposit of 5¢ for each container < 24 ounces and 10¢ for each container >24 ounces.
  3. In turn, they receive a refund of 5¢ for each container of less than 24 ounces redeemed, and 10¢ for each container of 24 ounces or greater redeemed.

Consumers have the right to be paid per container when bringing in 50 (fifty) containers or less in a single load. Some recyclers, at their discretion, may redeem more than 50 containers by count. If the recycler declines to pay by count for >50 containers presented per visit, payment is based on the weight of the materials delivered for redemption.

Handling fees are paid to the operators of supermarket redemption sites only, to help cover the costs of operating a redemption system at those locations. Handling fees are calculated every 2 years, 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.

Processing payments are paid to all redemption centers and to curbside programs to help cover the costs of recycling materials with a low scrap value. Processing Payment amounts vary by container type and are determined annually, based on based on audited data and scrap market prices. Part of the processing payments are supplied by distributors' processing fees, but the majority of processing payments come from unredeemed deposits. Unredeemed deposits are also used to administer the system and fund education programs.

Processing Fee amounts are a specific percentage of the Processing Payment, determined based on the recycling rate of the container type. Beverage distributors pay the "processing fee" into the recycling fund.[b]

Program success

Since implementation of the deposit program, California's beverage container recycling rates have increased significantly, from an overall 52% in 1988 to 85% in 2013. In the eight years from 2006 to 2013 alone, the program has increased recycling from 13 billion containers per year to more than 18.2 billion containers per year.[a] Because California is so large, that increase, of 5.2 billion containers, has an impact on the nation’s beverage container recycling rate as well. The 18.2 billion containers recycled in California are nearly 21% of the 88.2 billion containers that are recycled nationally each year. 1 out of 5 beverage containers recycled in the USA are recycled in California.

Footnotes

[a] Effective 1/1/18. Source: "2018 Processing Fees." CalRecycle, December 15, 2017. http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/BevContainer/Notices/2017/2018ProcFees.pdf

[b] Table 1, "2nd Quarter 2017 Processing Payment Adjustments." CalRecycle, March 15, 2017. http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/BevContainer/Notices/2017/ProcPayAdj.htm

[c] "Biannual Report of Beverage Container Sales, Returns, Redemption, and Recycling Rates." Nov. 2017.

[d] Q1–Q3 FY 2015–16 Quarterly Reports Data Supplement to "Quarterly Report on the Status of the Beverage Container Recycling Fund (FY 2015–16 – 3rd Quarter)." CalRecycle, July 2016.

[e] Source: CalRecycle, "Biannual Report of Beverage Container Sales, Returns, Redemption, and Recycling Rates." Nov. 2017 and May 10, 2018.

 

 

December 11, 2018