Update: Reloop identifies bottle bill ‘common ground’

The Reloop North America office of the Brussels-based Reloop Platform has developed 10 high-performance principles for an effective deposit-return system (DRS) or bottle bill program, along with 10 essential practices to build into a DRS policy or piece of legislation.

Reloop North America and its Director Elizabeth Balkan have sent the first of a series of e-newsletters designed to explain the “common ground, best practices of high-performing deposit return systems,” saying the timing is right as more than 10 states and the federal government all have beverage bottle bills under consideration.

The 10 principles identified by Reloop as both palatable and helpful to stakeholders throughout a bottle bill chain are that a DRS should: 1) be easy and equitable; 2) achieve a 90 percent collection rate; 3) have a minimum 10 cents per container deposit; 4) be an “inclusive, circular system”; 5) be producer funded; 6) provide “fair pay” for service providers; 7) provide financial support for municipal recycling programs; 8) maintain clear system standards and functions; 9) include beverage producer reporting on units sold; and 10) have adequate government oversight and enforcement.

Reloop calls an “easy and equitable” DRS one that is “simple for all [household] consumers to understand and use” and that works with retailers to achieve a system wherein “returning empties becomes a routine part of everyday life.”

Balkan tells Recycling Today that Oregon state Sen. Jeff Merkley's office is drafting a national bottle bill, which she says hopes will include the 10 principles identified by Reloop for DRS. She adds that Reloop is seeing a lot of interest to introduce bottle bills and amend existing bottle bills in states across the U.S. So far in 2023, she says, eight states have filed bills, with Maine, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts lawmakers proposing to modernize their bottle bills and Washington, Rhode Island, Illinois and Maryland lawmakers proposing to introduce bottle bills.

"Particularly noteworthy is the growing recognition that mandatory, separate collection of beverage containers, through a deposit-return system, is a must-have for good [extended producer responsibility]," Balkan tells Recycling Today. "This is a development we welcome and know, from experience in jurisdictions outside the U.S., is key to achieve high rates of beverage container material recovery and closed loop recycling."

Whether beverage bottles are returned by household consumers or collectors who earn income from gathering containers, Reloop says, “Any effective DRS must be human-centered and provide practical incentives, such as making sure participants get refunds in cash immediately.”

Reloop says when retailers host return sites the collection rate reaches a 90 percent average, whereas when they do not the average collection rate is just 76 percent.

The consulting firm says its attention to North American bottle bills is building on its experience in Europe. In the European Union, DRS efforts have been ramping up and best practices have been shared during the previous several years.

The first Reloop North America bottle bill “common ground” e-newsletter can be found here.