What Is a Bottle Bill? Deposits, Refunds, and Covered Containers

A bottle bill is a state law that puts a small refundable deposit on beverage containers so you have a financial reason to return the empties instead of throwing them away. You pay the deposit at the register, and you get it back when you return the container to a store, a redemption center, or a reverse vending machine. Ten states and the territory of Guam currently run these programs, with deposits ranging from 2 to 15 cents depending on the beverage and the state.¹

How the Deposit and Refund Cycle Works

The process starts at the cash register. When you buy a covered beverage, the store adds the deposit to the price, and it appears as a separate line on your receipt. After you finish the drink, you take the empty container to a redemption location and get that deposit back in full.

Behind the counter, the money moves in a loop. You pay the deposit to the retailer. The retailer passes it to the beverage distributor. When you return the empty, the retailer or redemption center refunds you, then collects that same amount back from the distributor. In most states the distributor also pays a small handling fee to the retailer or redemption center to offset the labor and equipment costs of accepting returns.¹

How Much the Deposit Is in Each State

Most states charge a flat 5 cents per container, but several states charge more, and a few vary the amount by container size or beverage type.¹

California: 5 cents under 24 ounces, 10 cents for 24 ounces and larger, 25 cents for wine or spirits in boxes, bladders, or pouches.²
Connecticut: 5 cents.
Hawaii: 5 cents.
Iowa: 5 cents.
Maine: 5 cents for most beverages, 15 cents for wine and liquor.
Massachusetts: 5 cents.
Michigan: 10 cents, the highest flat rate in the country.
New York: 5 cents.
Oregon: 10 cents for most containers, 2 cents for standard refillable bottles.
Vermont: 5 cents for most beverages, 15 cents for liquor.

Higher deposits tend to produce higher return rates. When there is real money sitting in a bag of empties, people notice.

Which Containers and Beverages Are Covered

Bottle bills generally cover the containers you would expect: aluminum cans, glass bottles, and plastic bottles used for carbonated soft drinks, beer, malt beverages, and water. The containers must be sealed at the point of sale and typically hold less than one gallon.¹

Everything beyond that depends on the state. Some programs cover juice, tea, sports drinks, wine, and spirits. Others stay with carbonated beverages and beer. Common exclusions include dairy, infant formula, and medicinal drinks. Oregon excludes wine, distilled liquor, milk, and infant formula. Connecticut excludes non-carbonated containers over three liters and those made of HDPE plastic.¹

If your container does not have a deposit printed on the label, it probably is not covered. Check the label before hauling a bag of empties anywhere.

Where You Return the Empties

Most states give you several options. Grocery stores and other retailers that sell covered beverages are the most common return point. Standalone redemption centers handle larger volumes. Reverse vending machines, often located outside grocery stores, are automated kiosks where you feed in containers one at a time; the machine scans the barcode, confirms the container qualifies, and prints a receipt or voucher you can redeem for cash or store credit.¹

Whether a retailer must accept returns varies. Some states require any store selling deposit beverages to take empties back. Others let a retailer opt out if a redemption center operates nearby.

Which States Have a Bottle Bill

Ten states run deposit programs: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. Guam also has one. Oregon was the first, in 1971, and Hawaii was the most recent, in 2002.³⁴ Delaware repealed its bottle bill in 2010 and is the only state so far to have abandoned a deposit system.¹

Why States Use Deposits Instead of Just Curbside Recycling

The case for bottle bills comes down to the numbers. States with deposit programs recover 80 to 90 percent of PET beverage containers, compared to a national recycling rate of around 30 percent. No other policy intervention for beverage containers comes close.

Litter results are similar. Studies after bottle bills took effect found beverage container litter dropped 69 to 84 percent in most states. Total roadside litter fell 30 to 64 percent. Michigan recorded an 84 percent reduction in beverage container litter after bringing in its 10-cent deposit, and Oregon recorded 83 percent. Hawaii saw a more modest 38 to 53 percent reduction.

A container with cash value attached behaves differently in people’s minds than one worth nothing. And the ones that do get tossed tend to get picked up by someone else collecting for the deposit, so roadsides stay cleaner even when not every consumer participates directly.

Returning Out-of-State Containers Is Fraud

Because deposits create a cash value for empty containers, they also create an incentive to cheat. The most common scheme is buying beverages in a non-deposit state and returning the empties in a deposit state, collecting a refund on containers no deposit was ever paid on.

Michigan, with the country’s highest standard deposit, treats this as a crime. Returning 25 to 99 out-of-state containers knowingly is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $100. Returning 100 or more, or a repeat offense, can bring up to 93 days in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both, plus restitution for the full fraudulent refund.⁵ Other bottle bill states have their own anti-fraud provisions with different penalties. The principle is the same everywhere: refunds are supposed to go to containers that actually had a deposit paid on them.

1
National Conference of State Legislatures. State Beverage Container Deposit Laws
2
CalRecycle. Beverage Container Recycling
3
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Oregon’s Evolving Bottle Bill
4
Container Recycling Institute. Deposit/Return Systems
5
Michigan Legislature. House Bill Analysis – House Bill 5061