Critics say California’s bottle bill is failing consumers; as redemption rates drop, recycling centers close

The National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC), Sacramento, and the Changing Markets Foundation, London, are sharing new information about California’s bottle bill and where they say there is room to improve. 

In a report released by the two organizations, they found that redemption rates have fallen to 66 percent, according to data calculated by the Container Recycling Institute (CRI). The state goal is 80 percent, and the state once had an 85 percent redemption rate.

While CalRecycle disputes the 66 percent figure and says the redemption rate is currently 75 percent, it does agree that the public needs the ability to redeem beverage containers.

Heidi Sanborn, with the NSAC, and Susan Collins, with CRI, which is based in Culver City, California, both say they feel this is the time to make changes as more recycling and redemption centers have closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NSAC is made up of government, non-government, businesses and consumers that advocate for a responsible circular economy, and the CRI says it works to increase recycling so no material is wasted.

In an op-ed for CalMatters, they both discuss their thoughts on Gov. Newsom’s decision to allow stores to stop accepting bottles for 60 days amidst the pandemic. Sanborn and Collins say the state should use this time to upgrade the redemption process.

The bottle bill has been in place in the Golden State since 1987. Consumers are charged an additional 5 cents for beer, malt, wine and distilled spirits coolers and all nonalcoholic beverages, except milk, that are less than 24 ounces and 10 cents more per beverage container that is more than 24 ounces at the time of purchase.  Customers receive refunds in these amounts when they bring those empty bottles back. While Collins and Sanborn say they have dedicated years to working on this issue, they say it’s still not fixed. Redemption centers are closing, creating recycling deserts. Plus, those closures are putting people out of work.

One of their many suggestions includes placing reverse vending machines in front of grocery stores. It would allow for touch-free returns but isn’t as financially beneficial for the grocery stores, as they don't get the refunds like regular recycling centers do. 

“The reverse vending machines could be used in grocery stores if two things happen. Number one, the grocery stores would need to be willing to use them, but there are also some important technical changes that need to be made in the law that are discouraging their use,” Collins says. The second issue is that California doesn’t limit the size of bottles returned, so 2-gallon jugs wouldn’t fit inside those vending machines.

In their op-ed, Collins and Sanborn also discuss how thousands of more jobs could be created if more recycling centers were open and more product was coming in.