Michigan lawmakers are once again proposing to expand Michigan’s “Bottle Bill” to include more containers within the state’s 10-cent deposit system.
State lawmakers introduced two bills in the Legislature this week -- Senate Bill 453 and House Bill 4904 -- in an effort to expand the state’s recycling system to include more types of containers. Officials said Thursday that the bills would expand the state’s 10-cent deposit on some soft drinks, beer, and carbonated beverages to include “all other non-carbonated beverages, except for milk containers,” officials announced Thursday.
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Michigan’s “Bottle Bill” was enacted in the 1970s to promote recycling. Legislators last attempted to update the rules in 2021, proposing bills with essentially the exact same wording.
Democratic state Sen. Sean McCann, and Democratic state Rep. Christine Morse announced the latest round of bills on Thursday, June 29, saying the change would benefit the environment and strengthen the state’s return system.
“To this day, [the Bottle Bill] is our state’s most widely used and accepted state conservation program,” Sen. McCann said. “We have an opportunity and responsibility to expand upon the success of the iconic legislation from the 1970s. There is no good reason that some of our plastic, glass and aluminum water bottles, and other single-use containers are not returnable when we have a functioning system that consumers and retailers are familiar with. We must act to protect our future by expanding our beverage container recycling system to keep bottles and cans out of landfills now!”
It does not appear the entire bills have been published online yet. However, lawmakers did offer some reforms the bills would initiate, including:
- “Require universal redemption, allowing consumers to take any recyclable containers to a large store while allowing smaller stores to maintain smaller takebacks;
- “Create a bottle-handling fund to reimburse distributors and dealers on a per-bottle-basis;
- “Make funding available for audits and fraud enforcement; and
- “Provide $25 million each year to address contaminated sites.”
It’s currently unclear when the Legislature will vote on the two bills.