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Increase in CRV
Payout as of January 1 Among Changes in
New Legislation
AB 3056 Frequently Asked Questions
SACRAMENTO, CA – As
California marks 20 years of the biggest
bottle and can recycling program in the
country, consumers will soon have an
even greater incentive to recycle.
Beginning January 1, they’ll get more
cash back for their aluminum, glass and
plastic beverage containers.
Assembly Bill 3056,
signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
on September 30, raises the amount of
California Refund Value (CRV) consumers
receive at recycling centers to a nickel
for containers less than 24 ounces and a
dime for containers 24 ounces and
larger. For at least six months, the
amount of CRV consumers pay at the store
will remain four cents on smaller
containers and eight cents on larger
ones.
“Californians have
demonstrated a tremendous commitment to
the environment through their beverage
container recycling efforts over the
past two decades,” said Bridgett Luther,
director of the state Department of
Conservation, which oversees the bottle
and can recycling program. “By approving
this legislation, the governor maintains
his commitment to the environment and
puts money back in the pockets of
consumers.”
Since AB 2020
established the state’s recycling
program in 1986, more than 160 billion
aluminum, glass, and plastic beverage
containers have been recycled in the
state. In 2005 alone, Californians
recycled an all-time record 12.4 billion
beverage containers, 61 percent of the
20.5 billion that were purchased in the
state.
“If we add in the
containers that will be recycled in 2006
to all those that have been recycled
since the program began, we’ll have
enough to fill up all lanes of
Interstate 5 with a wall of bottles and
cans 14 feet high the entire length of
the state,” Luther said.
Nevertheless,
billions of bottles and cans also end up
in landfills each year.
“When people fail to
recycle, it’s not just a waste of CRV,”
Luther said. “It also means lost energy
savings, because recycling saves energy,
and that valuable raw materials for
manufacturing are tossed away forever.”
When AB 2020 passed
in September of 1986, there was no
incentive to recycle bottles and cans
other than the “scrap value” recycling
centers were willing to pay. CRV was
introduced in 1987, which allowed
Californians to collect one cent for
each beverage container recycled. In
1988, Californians recycled 6.1 billion
CRV containers.
CRV later increased
to 2.5 cents on containers less than 24
ounces and 4 cents on containers 24
ounces and larger. From 1991-2003,
Californians averaged more than 10
billion recycled CRV containers per
year. When CRV increased to 4 cents (8
cents on larger containers) in 2004, the
number jumped to 12 billion recycled.
Most beverages
packaged in glass, aluminum and plastic
-- such as soft drinks, water, beer,
sports drinks, juices and coffee and tea
drinks -- are included in the CRV
program. Notable exceptions are milk,
wine and distilled spirits.
Californians have
several convenient options for recycling
and redeeming CRV bottles and cans,
primarily through neighborhood curbside
programs and the approximately 2,100
certified recycling centers and drop-off
and collection locations throughout
California. To find the nearest
certified recycling center, visit
www.bottlesandcans.com or call the
Department of Conservation toll-free
hotline, 1-800-RECYCLE.
A recent recycling
innovation from DOC is the free
“Recycling Starter Kit” available to
businesses, schools, gyms, and office
buildings. California businesses
interested in starting a beverage
container recycling program can receive
the Recycling Starter Kit by ordering
online at bottlesandcans.com or calling
1-800-RECYCLE.
All aspects of the
state’s beverage container recycling
program are paid for with unclaimed
refunds of CRV beverage containers, at
no cost to the state's general fund.
In addition to
promoting beverage container recycling,
the Department of Conservation maps and
studies earthquakes and other geologic
phenomena; classifies areas containing
mineral deposits; ensures reclamation of
land used for mining; regulates oil, gas
and geothermal wells; and administers
agricultural and open-space land
conservation programs.
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