Bill Text

This text is based on the national bottle bill, S 2220, which was introduced to the Senate by U.S. Senator Jeffords in 2002. The legislation has won high praise and endorsements from a wide variety of environmental groups including the Container Recycling Institute and the GrassRoots Recycling Network. Because the legislation would also be ideal at the state level, SERC has chosen to use it at as a sample state bottle bill.

Beverage Producer Responsibility Act

A bill to require implementation by brand owners of management plans that provide refund values for certain beverage containers.

Section 1. Short Title.

This Act may be cited as the “Beverage Producer Responsibility Act.”

Section 2. Findings.

The Legislature finds that:

(A) The beverage industry has an established and effective marketing infrastructure that provides a wide range of beverage products at affordable prices to consumers in our state;

(B) The absence of a beverage industry infrastructure for recovering used beverage containers has:

(1) Placed undue burdens on local waste authorities;

(2) Failed to provide any incentive for the beverage industry to reduce waste; and

(3) Resulted in tens of billions of unrecycled beverage containers per year, including 114,000,000,000 unrecycled beverage containers nationwide in 1999;

(C) Of particular concern:

(1) Glass beverage containers are difficult and costly to recycle through municipal curbside programs because of breakage;

(2) Valuable beverage container types are being replaced with low-value plastics and composite packaging; and

(3) Removing containers from curbside programs has been found to reduce the public costs of those programs;

(D) An efficient industry-operated system of beverage container collection, recycling, and reuse would:

(1) Reduce the overall burden placed on taxpayers and municipal waste management systems; and

(2) Shift the responsibility for that collection, recycling, and reuse to beverage producers and consumers;

(E) Deposit systems, originally devised by the beverage industry to recover used bottles, have been shown to be an effective and sustainable means for recovering used beverage containers, especially the increasing proportion of beverage containers the beverages contained by which are consumed away from the home;

(F) Greater reuse and recycling of beverage containers would:

(1) Significantly improve the energy and emissions performance of the beverage industry; and

(2) In each year, conserve an amount of electrical energy equivalent to that required to serve millions of homes;

(G) Ten states have enacted and implemented laws designed to protect the environment, conserve energy and material resources, and reduce waste by requiring:

(1) Beverage consumers to pay a deposit on the purchase of beverage containers; and

(2) The beverage industry to pay a refund on used beverage containers that are returned for reuse and recycling;

(H) Those laws:

(1) Enjoy strong public support; and

(2) Have proven to be effective in achieving high rates of beverage container reuse and recycling; and

(I) A statewide standard for beverage container reuse and recycling would ensure that beverage consumers in all regions of the state would enjoy access to beverage container reuse and recycling services.

Section 3. Definitions.

(A) “Administrator” includes all person(s) or agencies responsible for regulation of the management plans.

(B) “Beverage” refers to:

(1) In General: The term “beverage” means a nonalcoholic or alcoholic carbonated or noncarbonated liquid that is intended for human consumption.

(2) Exclusions: The term “beverage” does not include milk or any other dairy or dairy-derived product.

(C) “Beverage container” means a container that:

(1) Is constructed primarily of metal, glass, plastic, or paper (or a combination of those materials);

(2) Has a capacity of not more than 1 gallon of liquid; and

(3) On or after the date of enactment of this Act:

(a) May contain or contains a beverage; and

(b) Is offered for sale or sold in interstate commerce.

(D) “Beverage container agency” means, as determined by a brand owner:

(1) The brand owner; or

(2) An entity appointed by the brand owner to act as an agent on behalf of the brand owner.

(E) “Brand owner” means a person that owns the trademark for, manufactures, distributes, or imports for resale in interstate commerce a beverage sold in a beverage container.

(F) “Management plan” means a management plan submitted under section 6.

(G) “Recovery rate” means the percentage obtained by dividing:

(1) The number of beverage containers of a brand owner returned in this state for a refund under section 7(B)(2) in a calendar year by

(2) The number of beverage containers of the brand owner for which a deposit was collected in this state under section 7(A)(1) in the calendar year.

(H) “Refund value” means the refund value of a beverage container determined in accordance with section 8.

(I) “Return site” means an operation, facility, or retail store, or an association of operations, facilities, or retail stores, which is:

(1) Identified in an approved management plan; and

(2) Operating under contract entered into by the return site and a beverage container agency to collect and redeem empty beverage containers of 1 or more brand owners.

(J) “Seller” refers to:

(1) In General: The term “seller” means a person who sells a beverage in a beverage container.

(2) Inclusions: The term “seller” includes all members of the supply chain.

(K) “Unbroken beverage container” includes a beverage container that has been opened in a manner in which the beverage container was designed to be opened.

Section 4. Responsibilities of Brand Owners.

(A) In General: Each brand owner shall implement an effective redemption, transportation, processing, marketing, and reporting system for the reuse and recycling of used beverage containers of the brand owner.

(B) Prohibition of Post-Redemption Landfilling or Incineration: No brand owner or beverage container agency shall dispose of any beverage container labeled in accordance with section 5 in any landfill or other solid waste disposal facility.

Section 5. Beverage Container Labeling.

(A) In General: No brand owner may sell or offer for sale in interstate commerce a beverage in a beverage container unless a statement of the refund value of the beverage container is clearly, prominently, and securely affixed to, printed on, or embossed on the beverage container.

(B) Size and Location of Refund Value Statement: The Administrator shall promulgate regulations establishing uniform standards for the size and appropriate location on beverage containers of the refund value statement required under subsection (A).

Section 6. Management Plans.

(A) Submission of Plans: Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, each beverage container agency shall submit to the Administrator:

(1) A management plan, in such form as the Administrator may prescribe, for the collection, transport, reuse, and recycling of beverage containers that the beverage container agency, or that each brand owner represented by the beverage container agency, sells into state commerce; and

(2) A fee, in such amount as the Administrator may establish by regulation, to cover administrative costs relating to administration of the management plan.

(B) Contents of Plan: A management plan submitted under this section shall:

(1) Include:

(a) The name and address for service of process of the beverage container agency submitting the management plan;

(b) The name and title of a contact person at the beverage container agency;

(c) The name and corporate address of each brand owner covered by the management plan; and

(d) The brand name of each beverage covered by the management plan;

(2) Provide:

(a) A proposed implementation date for the management plan; and

(b) Appropriate documentation of such agreements entered into by the beverage container agency and return site operators as will take effect as of the date of implementation of the management plan; and

(3) Include a description of:

(a) The ways in which the beverage container agency intends to make the use of return sites convenient for consumers of beverages covered by the management plan in all areas of interstate commerce;

(b) The ways in which the beverage container agency intends to achieve, not later than 2 years after the date of implementation of the management plan, a recovery rate of at least 80 percent; and

(c) The ways in which the beverage container agency will manage beverage containers returned under the management plan in an environmentally responsible manner.

(C) Changes in Information: Each beverage container agency that submits a management plan under this section shall promptly notify the Administrator, in writing, of any change in the information provided under subsection(B)(1).

(D) Approval of Management Plans:

(1) In General: The Administrator shall approve or disapprove each management plan submitted under this section.

(2) Determination: In determining whether to approve or disapprove a management plan, the Administrator may return the management plan to the beverage container agency:

(a) With a request for additional information; or

(b) For amendment.

(3) Disapproval: If the Administrator disapproves a management plan, the Administrator shall, not later than 60 days after the date of disapproval, provide to the beverage container agency that submitted the management plan a written explanation of the reasons for disapproval.

(E) Implementation of Management Plans:

(1) In General: A brand owner that, on or before the date of enactment of this Act, is selling in interstate commerce a beverage in a beverage container, shall:

(a) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, have in effect a management plan that has been approved by the Administrator; and

(b) Implement the management plan in accordance with the implementation date proposed in the management plan under subsection (B)(2)(a).

(2) New Brand Owners: A brand owner that proposes, after the date of enactment of this Act, to sell in interstate commerce a beverage in a beverage container shall:

(a) Have, as of the date on which the brand owner commences the selling of the beverage, a management plan that has been approved by the Administrator; and

(b) Implement the management plan in accordance with the implementation date proposed in the management plan under subsection (B)(2)(a).

(3) Prohibition: No brand owner shall sell in interstate commerce any beverage in a beverage container:

(a) Except as in accordance with paragraph (1) or (2), as appropriate; or

(b) On or after the implementation date proposed in a management plan of the brand owner under subsection (B)(2)(a), if the Administrator has not approved the management plan.

(F) Report:

(1) In General: Each beverage container agency the  management plan of which is approved and implemented under this section shall, not later than March 31 of each year after the implementation date of the management plan, submit to the Administrator a report that describes the effectiveness of the management plan during the preceding calendar year.

(2) Information: The report shall include:

(a) For each type of beverage container returned, the recovery rate:

(i) expressed as a percentage; and
(ii) audited by an entity independent of the beverage container agency; and

(b) Annual financial statements, prepared by an entity independent of the beverage container agency, of all deposits received and refunds paid by each brand owner subject to the management plan.

(3) Public Availability: The Administrator may make available to the public the information described in paragraph (2).

Section 7. Deposit and Refund.

(A) Deposit:

(1) In General: On and after the implementation date of any approved management plan to which a seller is subject, the seller shall collect from each purchaser of a beverage in a beverage container, at the time of sale, a deposit in an amount that is not more than the refund value of the beverage container.

(2) Documentation: A deposit collected under paragraph (1) shall be indicated on the receipt of the purchaser, if a receipt is given for the purchase.

(3) Exception: This subsection shall not apply to a case in which a beverage in a beverage container is sold for consumption, and is consumed, on the premises of the seller.

(B) Refund: On and after the implementation date of an approved management plan, a beverage container return site covered by the management plan shall:

(1) Accept unbroken beverage containers for return; and

(2) Pay to a person returning beverage containers an amount, in cash or in the form of a voucher redeemable for cash on demand, that is equal to the total of the refund values affixed to, printed on, or embossed on each container returned by the person.

(C) Acceptable Beverage Containers: A return site shall not be required to accept or pay a refund for a beverage container under this section if, as determined by the return site, the beverage container:

(1) Is contaminated or, for hygienic reasons, is unsuitable for recycling;

(2) Can be reasonably identified as a container that was purchased outside the state; or

(3) Cannot be reasonably identified as a container to which this Act applies.

Section 8. Refund Value.

(A) In General: The refund value of a beverage container shall be the greater of:

(1) Ten cents; or

(2) An adjusted value determined under subsection (B).

(B) Adjustment: The Administrator shall:

(1) Adjust the amount of the refund value of a beverage container under subsection (A) on the date that is 10 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 10 years thereafter, to reflect changes during those 10-year periods in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers published by the Department of Labor; and

(2) Round any adjustment under paragraph (1) to the nearest 5-cent increment.

Section 9. Recovery Rates.

(A) In General: Except as provided in subsections (B) and (C), in a case in which a brand owner complies with each provision of this Act, but fails to achieve a recovery rate of at least 80 percent for beverage containers of the brand owner during a calendar year, the Administrator may require that the beverage container agency of the brand owner pay the state an amount equal to the difference between:

(1) The amount of deposits collected on beverage containers of the brand owner that were sold in the state; and

(2) The amount of refunds paid on those beverage containers.

(B) Exemptions: A brand owner that achieves a recovery rate of at least 80 percent under a beverage container deposit program within the 2-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act shall be exempt from the provisions of this Act.

(C) Reuse Rate Adjustment: The minimum recovery rate required to be achieved by a brand owner under subsection (A) shall be reduced by 1 percentage point for each percentage point increase in the use by the brand owner of refillable beverage containers.

Section 10. Other Management Requirements.

(A) Disputes: If a dispute arises under this Act between, and cannot be resolved by, a beverage container agency and a return site, the beverage container agency or the return site shall refer the matter to binding arbitration.

(B) Confidentiality:

(1) In General: Except as provided in paragraph (2), each person, acting under the authority of this Act, shall keep confidential all facts, information, and records obtained or provided under this Act.

(2) Exception: Paragraph (1) shall not apply in a case in which public duty requires, or any regulation promulgated by the Administrator under this Act permits, the disclosure of any facts, information, or records described in that paragraph.

Section 11. Report By Administrator.

(A) Not later than <one year after the effective date of this Act>, and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the Legislature a report that describes:

(1) The recovery rate for beverage containers during the year covered by the report; and

(2) The extent to which beverage container collection is proceeding in accordance with this Act.

Section 12. Penalties.

(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act:

(1) A person that violates any provision of this Act [other than section 6(F)] shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 for each violation; and

(2) A person that violates section 6(F) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for each violation.

Section 13. Effective Date.

The provisions of this Act shall be effective on <insert date>.

Section 14. Severability.

If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this Act, which can be given effect without regard to the invalid provision or application and, to this end, the provisions of this Act are severable.