California Redemption Value

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California Redemption Value (CRV), also known as California Refund Value, is a regulatory fee [1] paid on recyclable beverage containers in the U.S. state of California. The fee was established by the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act of 1986 (AB 2020, Margolin) and further extended to additional beverage types in California State Senate Bill No. 1013, signed into law on September 28, 2022 and taking effect on January 1, 2024; [2] since 2010 the program has been administered by the Cal/EPA California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) (it was previously administered by the California Department of Conservation, Division of Recycling). [3]

Contents

Other states have similar bottle bills/deposit laws, including Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. [4]

Regulatory system

The bottler pays CRV for beverages with aluminum, plastic, glass, and bimetal containers and anyone can receive the same amount in exchange for the container by bringing it to a recycling center. The symbol on beverage containers eligible for reimbursement is "CA CRV". Currently, CRV is 5 cents for containers less than 24 US fluid ounces (710 ml) and 10 cents for containers 24 US fluid ounces (710 ml) or larger. [5] The state also allows recyclers to pay by weight, for which the state also sets a separate minimum price per pound (kg). When redeeming in quantities up to 50 containers, the consumer has the right to be paid by count on request. In larger quantities, the recycler has discretion. [6] Recyclers have the right to refuse or offer a reduced price for contaminated materials. It is illegal to bring in out-of-state cans or bottles to California to recoup the CRV and violators can be charged with fraud, a felony. [7]

The charge for California Redemption Value is similar to bottle bill deposits used in other states, but is technically a fee imposed on the distributor of the beverage. The fee tends to be passed along to the retailer and to the consumer via normal market forces. Distributors and retailers usually break out the CRV as a distinct part of the purchase price in advertising and on receipts (for example the charge for a 50-cent bottle of soda may appear on the receipt as "45 cents plus 5 cents CRV").

One way the difference between CRV and a system in which the consumer pays a deposit or tax shows up is that sales tax applies to the CRV amount, if the item is subject to sales tax. [8] If it were not part of the basic price of the product, sales tax would not apply to it. Accordingly, when the State of California raised the CRV from $0.04 on 2 L bottles and $0.02 on cans to $0.08 and $0.04, respectively, then again to $0.10 and $0.05, respectively, it was also raising California's sales tax revenue gained on the imposed fee.

Types of beverages

CRV is paid on the following types of beverages:

CRV is not paid on the following:

Recycling centers

In August 2019, California's largest recycling redemption and processing centers operator, RePlanet, announced closing all 284 of its remaining centers, ceasing operations, terminating 750 employees, and beginning the process of liquidating assets to pay creditors, because of continued reduction in State fees, the depressed pricing of recycled aluminum and PET plastic, minimum wage increases, [11] and the rise in operating costs. [12] In February 2016, RePlanet had closed 191 recycling centers and terminated nearly 300 employees in smaller communities across California, due to the same causes. [13]

Issues with implementation

Fresno State had trash bins along with dedicated beverage containers recycling receptacles. Despite their best effort to secure them against theft including keeping them under lock and key, they were forced to remove the beverage receptacles as for "vagrants would break the locks and steal the contents", according to Fresno State's manager for office of environmental health safety, risk management and sustainability. [14]

Declining value of materials from recyclable containers

The falling market value of materials that redeemable containers are made of such as metal, plastic or glass has led to a decrease in the viability of many local recycling centers. CalRecycle, the agency that oversees the CRV program, reported in 2016 that recycling rates had declined below their goal of 80%. [15] It is estimated that around 1.7 million containers were not recycled as a result of the decline over the past five years, ending up in dumps instead. [16] Barriers to the ease of recycling has effectively caused consumers to lose, as the LA Times reported, "at least $308 million in 5-cent deposits on cans and bottles in 2018". [17] The incentive to process the containers has decreased in monetary amount along with inflation further devaluing the incentive. [16] A later bill, The California beverage container recycling law, attempted to solve the initial shortcomings by requiring that when not within half of a mile from a recycling center, that the markets themselves must accept CRV qualified containers or be fined a daily rate. This has not completely solved the issue as many companies choose not to accept recycles but do not pay the fine, similar to the litigation between the state of California and CVS as recent as December 2019. [18]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon Bottle Bill</span> Container-deposit legislation

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Container-deposit legislation</span>

Container-deposit legislation is any law that requires the collection of a monetary deposit on beverage containers at the point of sale and/or the payment of refund value to the consumers. When the container is returned to an authorized redemption center, or retailer in some jurisdictions, the deposit is partly or fully refunded to the redeemer. It is a deposit-refund system.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cacique Guaro</span> Brand of liquor

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fifth (unit)</span> Unit of volume used for wine and spirits

A fifth is a unit of volume formerly used for wine and distilled beverages in the United States, equal to one fifth of a US liquid gallon, or 25+3⁄5 U.S. fluid ounces ; it has been superseded by the metric bottle size of 750 ml, sometimes called a metric fifth, which is the standard capacity of wine bottles worldwide and is approximately 1% smaller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Container deposit legislation in Australia</span>

Container deposit legislation (CDL), also known as a container deposit scheme (CDS), is a scheme that was first implemented in South Australia in 1977 and over the decades has spread to the Northern Territory in 2012, New South Wales in 2017, the Australian Capital Territory in June 2018, Queensland in November 2018 and Western Australia in October 2020. Schemes in the remaining states of Tasmania and Victoria are due to commence in 2023.

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The Massachusetts Bottle Bill is a container-deposit legislation dealing with recycling in the United States that originally passed in the U.S. state of Massachusetts in 1982 as the Beverage Container Recovery Law. Implemented in 1983, the law requires containers of carbonated beverages to be returnable with a minimum return value of $0.05. The bottle bill does not cover containers of non-carbonated beverages like water, tea, or sports drinks. The law also establishes the handling fee paid by distributors to redemption centers, $0.0325 per unit as of July 5, 2013, and to retailers $0.0225 per unit. As the number of non-deposit beverage containers has increased to represent over one-third of beverage containers sold, the Bottle Bill has no influence on these non-deposit containers, with the result that these containers are three times more likely to be found as litter in Massachusetts communities. Additional studies indicate that beverage containers covered by the state's container deposit system are redeemed at approximately 70% and another 9% are recycled via curbside programs. Conversely, containers that are not covered, such as bottled water, juices, and sports drinks, are recycled at approximately 25%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of bottle recycling in the United States</span>

The history of bottle recycling in the United States has been characterized by four distinct stages. In the first stage, during the late 18th century and early 19th century, most bottles were reused or returned. When bottles were mass-produced, people started throwing them out, which led to the introduction of bottle deposits. However, during the second stage, after World War II, consumption patterns changed and nonreturnable containers became popular, which littered the environment. Some states implemented "bottle bills" that instituted deposits. The beverage-container industry first implemented private recycling programs and then pushed for municipal curbside recycling as an alternative to "bottle bills". More recently, PET bottles have largely replaced other materials. The United States used to be the front-runner when it came to recycling PET, but European countries have since outpaced the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canner (occupation)</span>

A canner participates in canning, the collection and redemption of deposit-marked beverage containers for recycling. Canning is an activity undertaken by individuals or small teams, typically to earn an income. Canning is only possible in nations, states, or municipalities which have enacted container-deposit legislation.

References

  1. ↑ "Beverage Container Recycling". California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "California bottle bill adds wine and spirits, plus last-minute funding for glass markets and recycling". Waste Dive. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Beverage Container Recycling". California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Bottle Bill Resource Guide". Container Recycling Institute. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ "CRV Rates/Cash Register Receipts".
  6. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)".
  7. ↑ "California laws on recycling bottles from Nevada". SFGate.com. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  8. ↑ "404 – Not Found – Board of Equalization" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 8, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2008.{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  9. ↑ "Calrecycle faq" . Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  10. 1 2 3 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 10, 2009. Retrieved August 24, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ↑ Farren, Julie. "rePlanet Recycling closes". Banning Record Gazette. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  12. ↑ "California's largest recycling center closes, shuttering 300 redemption sites". East Bay Times. August 5, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  13. ↑ "California's rePlanet closes 191 recycling centers, terminates 300 jobs". Waste Dive. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  14. ↑ Karby, Marcus (September 2, 2016). "The mystery behind the lack of recycling bins". The Collegian. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  15. ↑ Sciacca, Annie; Spacek, Rachel (July 4, 2017). "Californians are recycling bottles less and less. Here's what's going on". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 4, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  16. 1 2 Abbott, Jenna (August 24, 2018). "Urgent need to fix California's 'bottle bill'". Capitol Weekly. Archived from the original on August 25, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Californians are losing hundreds of millions of dollars in recycling deposits". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. February 28, 2019. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019.
  18. ↑ Gonzalez, Vicki (December 9, 2019). "California fines CVS millions for failing to redeem recycling". KCRA. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019.
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