DOR's History, Recycled

If you could bottle California's bottle bill, you'd have one potent elixir.

The California program, enacted through Assembly Bill 2020 in September of 1986, has helped move beverage-container recycling into the mainstream. Research conducted by the Department of Conservation showed that 90 percent of Californians had recycled beverage containers at some point and that many do so on a regular basis.

But the program that gave birth to the Division of Recycling has done more than keep nearly 200 billion containers out of landfills and off the side of the road. It has in part prompted the private sector to produce recycling trucks, balers and material manufacturing facilities, plus to develop uses for the recycled material. The Chicago Board of Trade even has an electronic recycling commodity exchange system.

Since AB 2020, curbside recycling has become commonplace. It spawned other recycling-related legislation as well: two years after the bottle bill, AB 939 established the California Integrated Waste Management Board, which oversees the recycling of material other than beverage containers.

AB 2020 made California the 10th state with a bottle bill. Beverage containers were targeted for recycling because of their visible contribution to litter and because of major changes in the distribution system.

Beer and soft drinks were sold almost exclusively in refillable bottles until the middle of the century. Brewers and bottlers ensured returns by imposing a voluntary deposit on bottles. The introduction of the aluminum can, the evolution of mom-and-pop grocers into supermarkets, the population shift to the suburbs, and other factors all but eliminated the refillable container.

Oregon passed the first bottle bill, in 1972. California's law, like Oregon's and those in other states, was intended to reduce litter and promote resource conservation and a conservation ethic. At the core of AB 2020 is the goal of recycling 80 percent of all covered aluminum, glass, plastic and other metal beverage containers.

Although in its initial form AB 2020 simply established a redemption value on beverage containers, it ended up being fundamentally different than other bottle bills. Balancing the needs and concerns of environmental, industry and consumer groups prompted those drafting the law to be innovative. An example: The convenience zone recycling centers within a half-mile of nearly every supermarket in the state came out of a major compromise. AB 2020 has five distinctive elements:

• First, it sets a redemption value on all beer/malt beverages, wine and distilled spirit coolers, coffee/tea beverages, vegetable juice in containers 16 ounces or fewer, carbonated and noncarbonated water, carbonated and noncarbonated fruit drinks, carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks and sports drinks and many other beverages in aluminum, glass, plastic and bi-metal containers. The redemption value is  5 cents for containers less than 24 ounces, 10 cents for containers 24 ounces and larger. For an extensive list of beverages covered under the program, click here.
  

• Second, it sets processing fees, which are paid to recyclers to cover their cost of recycling.
  

• Third, it establishes a network of convenience zone recycling centers. There are currently more than 3,400 convenience zones in the state, and approximately 2,000 recycling/redemption centers for consumers. To find the nearest center, visit bottlesandcans.com or call 1-800-RECYCLE or click here.

• Fourth, it by law directs unredeemed funds toward supporting the Community Conservation Corps and toward grants and payments to private and public organizations for recycling-related projects. These funds also help container manufacturers reduce costs and save jobs, and have helped communities finance curbside recycling programs.

• Fifth, in order to pay CRV to consumers, recyclers must be certified by the DOC's Division of Recycling, and must accept all beverage containers covered in the program.

The Division of Recycling is divided into several branches, with duties including public education and outreach, enforcement of program rules and regulations, and oversight of businesses engaged in making, selling and recycling beverage containers. To learn more, visit the Division of Recycling home page.