What Is a Bottle Deposit Fee? Amounts, State Laws, and Redemption

A bottle deposit fee is a small refundable charge, usually 5 or 10 cents, added to the price of certain beverage containers at the register. Return the empty bottle or can to a participating store, redemption center, or reverse vending machine, and you get that money back. Ten states and the U.S. territory of Guam run these deposit-refund programs, and each sets its own rules on amounts, covered drinks, and where you can redeem.¹

How the Deposit Works

The deposit is not a tax. It is your money, held temporarily. When a retailer buys beverages from a distributor, the retailer pays the deposit upstream and then passes it on to you at checkout. When you bring the empty back, you get the full deposit returned. The retailer sends the containers back up the chain and gets reimbursed, plus a small per-container handling fee that covers their sorting costs.²

So every can you drop in the trash instead of returning is a nickel or a dime you’ve thrown away.

Which States Have Bottle Deposit Laws

There is no federal bottle deposit law. Ten states and one territory have passed their own:¹

California
Connecticut
Hawaii
Iowa
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
New York
Oregon
Vermont
Guam

If you don’t live in one of these places, the beverages you buy won’t carry a deposit, and you can’t redeem containers for cash. Each of these states wrote its law independently, so the deposit amount, the drinks that qualify, and the redemption process differ across state lines.

How Much Is the Deposit

Deposits range from 2 cents to 15 cents per container depending on the state, the type of drink, and sometimes the container size.¹ Most states use a flat 5 cents. The notable exceptions:

Michigan charges 10 cents on all covered containers, the highest flat rate in the country.
Oregon charges 10 cents, having doubled its deposit from 5 cents in 2017.
Maine charges 15 cents on wine and spirits containers and 5 cents on beer, soda, hard cider, and water.
California charges 5 cents for containers under 24 ounces and 10 cents for containers 24 ounces or larger.³

You don’t have to memorize any of this. The deposit amount is printed directly on the container, usually alongside the state abbreviation, like “CT 5¢” or “MI 10¢.”

Which Containers Qualify

Every state covers carbonated soft drinks, beer, and other malt beverages in aluminum cans, glass bottles, and plastic bottles. Beyond that core, the lists diverge. Many states also include bottled water. Some add juice, wine coolers, mixed spirit drinks, and hard cider. Hawaii’s program is one of the broadest, covering nearly all nonalcoholic beverages in sealed containers up to 68 fluid ounces, including tea and coffee drinks.⁴ Michigan added kombucha in 2019.

Dairy products, meal replacements, infant formula, and medicines are generally excluded. Hawaii also carves out dietary supplements, frozen products, and soups. When in doubt, check the label. No deposit marking means no refund.

How to Get Your Deposit Back

You have three places to return containers, and availability depends on where you live.

Retail Stores

Stores that sell deposit beverages are generally required to accept empties of the same brands and sizes they carry. States let stores cap how many containers one person can return per day, but the caps tend to be high. New York, for example, cannot let dealers set the daily limit below 240 containers per person, and customers who need to return more can arrange it with 48 hours’ notice.⁵

Redemption Centers

Standalone redemption centers accept containers from many brands and process higher volumes than retail stores. If a nearby store has short hours or a cramped return area, a redemption center is usually faster.

Reverse Vending Machines

These are the automated kiosks you’ll see near the entrances of many grocery stores. Feed in containers one at a time, or, on newer multi-feed models, dump an entire bag of empties into a chute. The machine identifies each container by barcode or shape, counts what qualifies, and prints a receipt that you redeem at the cash register for cash or store credit.

Container Condition and Labels

Returned containers need to be intact (not crushed, broken, or corroded), empty, and reasonably clean. A little dirt or dust is fine. Washing isn’t required, but it keeps the process smoother.⁶ The container also needs a valid deposit label for the state where you’re redeeming it. Containers without a proper refund marking, or containers from a non-deposit state, will be rejected.

What a Lapsed Deposit Actually Costs You

A household that buys a case of 24 cans a week in a 5-cent state and never returns the empties loses more than $60 a year. In Michigan at 10 cents, that doubles. Across the country, a significant share of deposits go unclaimed each year. Depending on the state, that unclaimed money ends up in state recycling funds, with distributors, or split between the two. None of it comes back to the person who paid it.

Don’t Try to Redeem Across State Lines

Because deposits vary, there’s an obvious temptation to buy beverages in a 5-cent state and return the empties in a 10-cent state. Don’t. Redeeming containers on which a deposit was never paid in that state is fraud, and state enforcement has been stepping up.⁵ Fines run into the hundreds or thousands for repeat offenses, and some states treat it as a misdemeanor. The state-specific labeling and barcode scanning in reverse vending machines make it easy to catch.

1
National Conference of State Legislatures. State Beverage Container Deposit Laws
2
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Redemption Centers and Dealer Requirements for NY Bottle Bill
3
CalRecycle. Beverage Container Recycling Program
4
Hawaii Department of Health. FAQ Whats In Whats Out – Hawaii Beverage Container Deposit Program
5
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Redemption Centers and Dealer Requirements for NY Bottle Bill
6
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Bottle and Can Deposit Returns