HB 158 expands Vermont’s current container deposit law to include more types of beverages and restructures the overall bottle bill system to require beverage manufacturers to participate in a producer responsibility organization. It passed the House on March 29 and the Senate on May 11, 2023.

If signed by the governor, new beverages will be included in the deposit law including bottled water, sports drinks, wine and liquor. Wine bottles would have a 15-cent deposit, as well as liquor bottles over 50 ml. Other types of containers would have a 5-cent deposit value, the same as other containers in the program.

The bill would not cover milk, dairy products, infant formula, meal replacement drinks or nonalcoholic cider. 

It would also require all manufacturers and distributors of covered beverages to participate in a newly formed PRO starting Jan. 1, 2024. The organization would be responsible for managing the bottle bill system and must submit a stewardship plan by Oct. 1, 2024. The plan must include details on offering convenient collection points, reducing sortation burdens at redemption centers, offering consumer education aspects and other details.

A Senate amendment requires the state’s natural resources agency to update the legislature on the redemption rate and recommend whether the deposit value should be increased. Previous versions of the bill called for eventually raising the deposit on most containers to 10 cents. The House and Senate will need to concur on the change before the governor signs the bill.

The bill also lays out a statewide minimum beverage container redemption rate goal of 75% by July 1, 2026 and updates that goal incrementally every few years until it reaches 90% by July 1, 2040. 

The state currently collects 100% of unclaimed beverage container deposits known as escheats, but the bill would change that model in 2026 to allow the state to collect the first $3 million. The PRO would collect the remainder. The state would collect the first $4 million starting in 2027, and return to collecting the full amount by 2031. By that time, Vermont would need to contribute at least $4 million to the state’s Clean Water Fund and additional amounts collected would go to the Waste Management Assistance Fund.

Further reading

Maryland’s new EPR for packaging law, SB 222, doesn’t officially establish an EPR program. Instead, it calls for a detailed statewide needs assessment to determine how recycling and waste systems are currently operating before the state can create the program. Gov. Moore signed the law on May 8, 2023. 

The law requires a third party to complete the needs assessment by July 30, 2024. It also calls for creating an advisory council that will provide recommendations on a proposed EPR plan to the governor by Dec. 1, 2024. The Maryland Department of the Environment must also approve a single producer responsibility organization by Oct. 1, 2023. 

The needs assessment must include details of state waste and recycling infrastructure and capacity, as well as key costs and revenues. It must also determine disposal and recycling methods by material type and amount, as well as estimate how many materials are currently not being recycled and numerous other metrics.

The advisory council will have up to 21 members including haulers, processors and composters from both the public and private sectors, and representatives from local government agencies, PROs and the consumer goods sector.

The bill originally spelled out details of an EPR program, but it underwent numerous major amendments to make it a study instead. Supporters of the change, including recycling groups and other policy stakeholders, said it’s important to have a clear picture of the state’s recycling and waste management systems before trying to write detailed EPR rules.

Further reading

The bill prohibits food vendors from offering polystyrene foam containers or serving food in the containers starting Jan. 1, 2025. It also prohibits the sale or distribution of PS foam containers, PS foam packaging peanuts or other foodware containers containing intentionally added PFAS by that date. Gov. Tina Kotek signed the bill into law on May 8, 2023.

Food vendors that don’t comply would face penalties of up to $100 per day. The fine goes up to $500 a day for those that sell or distribute the prohibited containers into the state, according to the bill.

The bill garnered support from a coalition of about 25 environmental and recycling groups including the Association of Oregon Recyclers, Environment Oregon and the Oregon Environmental Council. The groups say plastic reduction strategies are effective in reducing pollution.

A group of plastics industry and packaging organizations including the American Chemistry Council, Ameripen and Plastics, opposed the bill. In a joint letter, the groups said the bill gives the state Environmental Quality Commission too much power to “ban any type of plastic packaging it deems ‘unnecessary.’” The Foodservice Packaging Institute also opposed the bill.

Further reading

Redemption centers in Maine now receive an extra cent for each container they handle under LD 134. Gov. Janet Mills signed the emergency legislation into law on May 5.

Effective May 1, the handling fee is now 5.5 cents, up a penny from when the fee was last increased in 2020, according to the bill. The handling fee will again increase to 6 cents per container on Sept. 1.

Redemption centers are a key part of Maine’s bottle bill, but numerous closures over the last few years prompted the state legislature to quickly pass the bill to prevent further damage. There are about 321 redemption centers in the state and more than 50 have closed since 2020, Maine Public reported. Some redemption center operators applauded the law, saying they have few ways to raise their income as costs rise and the law would help prevent future closures. 

Beverage brands like BlueTriton, which owns Poland Spring, as well as some distributors, said Maine already has one of the highest handling fees in the country compared with places like Iowa and Oregon. They felt that raising the fee wouldn’t do much to stabilize the bottle bill in the long run and would add costs to their businesses and to consumers, preferring the fee increase to be paired with broader system reforms. TOMRA, a reverse vending machine manufacturer, said any changes to the state’s bottle bill must come with “checks and balances.” 

Further reading

The Delaware Senate approved a bill that would ban most food establishments from providing customers with food or beverages in polystyrene foam containers. It also bans the establishments from offering plastic straws unless customers request them, and further bans single-service plastic coffee stirrers, cocktail picks, or sandwich picks. The restrictions would take effect on July 1, 2025. The bill now moves to the House for consideration.

Some healthcare providers, nonprofit organizations and religious institutions would be exempt from the foam food container ban. The bill also excludes EPS coolers or ice chests used for shipping of seafood or storing raw meat, fruits or other types of raw food items.

The plastic straw ban would not apply to people in hospitals or long-term care facilities and wouldn’t apply to straws already attached to prepackaged goods like juice boxes, according to the bill.  

Bill sponsor Sen. Trey Paradee told Delaware Public Media that the bill is the next logical step to move away from single-use plastics. The state already bans single-use plastic bags. 

Opponents include Senate Minority Leader Brian Pettyjohn, who says the Delaware Solid Waste Authority should accept PS packaging for recycling instead of banning it, he told DPM.

Washington’s HB 1085 aims to reduce plastic pollution by restricting single-use water bottles, health and beauty product containers, and foam structures for overwater docks. The bill awaits Gov. Jay Inslee’s signature. 

The bill also requires that new buildings with drinking fountains include bottle filling stations, a provision meant to reduce single-use plastic water bottle use.

The bill also calls for hotels and other “lodging establishments” to stop offering health and beauty products that come in small plastic containers, plastic wrappers or other single-use plastic packaging unless guests specifically request them. The establishments could still use refillable plastic dispensers or single-use containers not made from plastic.

The water bottle filling station portion of the bill would take effect July 1, 2026. Establishments with 50 or more units would need to stop offering plastic toiletries on Jan. 1, 2027, and smaller establishments would follow suit starting Jan. 1, 2028. The foam dock portion would take effect Jan. 1, 2024.

Further reading

The bill would phase out single-use polystyrene foam foodware in Illinois. If passed, this bill will follow several other states and localities that have also banned the material in recent years.

The bill, which passed the House on March 21, would prohibit most retail establishments from selling disposable foam food containers on January 1, 2024. On Jan. 1, 2025, that ban would also apply to food pantries, soup kitchens, not-for-profits, government agencies that offer food for “needy individuals” and restaurants with an annual gross income under $500,000 per location.

The Ocean Conservancy applauded the bill, saying that EPS foam is a common pollutant in waterways, and that the material cannot be effectively recycled in the state. “The simplest solution for the health of our recycling system and our waterways is to do away with the material entirely,” said Anja Brandon, associate director of U.S. plastics policy, in a news release. 

Los Angeles and San Diego banned polystyrene foam containers in December 2022. Colorado banned the material in 2021 along with Washington and Virginia. 

Plastics and packaging organizations have opposed the bill, including the American Chemistry Council. ACC typically opposes polystyrene bans, including Washington’s recent ban, because the group says it limits consumer choice and reduces states’ ability to build up infrastructure for recycling the material. The Foodservice Packaging Institute, Amsty and Pactiv Evergreen also oppose the bill.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to be heard in the Assignments committee.

The bill, meant to reduce fire danger at waste facilities and increase recycling rates, requires battery producers to fund and participate in an EPR program. It also would establish labeling requirements for batteries sold in the state. Gov. Jay Inslee signed the bill on May 11, 2023. 

The bill also calls for a public education component. “It’s urgent we take action to ensure these products containing hazardous materials don’t continue to pile up in our landfills or other places they can cause health and safety concerns,” said state Sen. Derek Stanford, the bill’s sponsor, in a news release. 

The bill requires producers selling portable batteries or battery-containing products to participate in the stewardship organization starting January 1, 2027, for portable batteries and January 1, 2029, for medium-sized batteries. 

Stanford also sees the bill as a way to encourage producers to create better-designed batteries that are easier to recycle and last longer, he said in a news release.

Most kinds of batteries are included in the law, but some exceptions include medical device batteries, lead-acid batteries over 11 pounds and batteries that are not designed to be easily removed from items. Electric vehicle batteries are also not included in the EPR program, but the law would require the state’s Department of Ecology to publish policy recommendations for EV battery collection by April 2024.

Washington already has other stewardship programs for paint, electronic products, photovoltaic solar panels and mercury-containing light bulbs.

Supporters include Zero Waste Washington, which said the bill effectively addresses safety and environmental issues batteries can cause, as well as representatives from state solid waste authorities and fire departments. The Rechargeable Battery Association has said parts of the bill were needlessly complex and asked lawmakers to allow producers to charge a fee to consumers to cover management costs.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a chapter amendment March 3 to postpone the deadline for parts of the state’s extended producer responsibility law for carpet. The amendment gives carpet producers more time to create collection programs. 

Hochul signed the original EPR for carpet bill into law in January, and this additional law extends the program’s effective date to July 1, 2026. The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, which is responsible for approving producers’ recycling plan proposals, requested additional time to implement the new law, according to the bill text.

Under the original EPR bill text, producers would have had to submit plans by the end of the year. The chapter amendment now gives producers until Dec. 31, 2025, to submit details on how they will participate in an industry recycling program or establish their own program. They will need to implement those plans starting July 1, 2026.

Lawmakers had already planned to start the program in 2026, and this amendment is seen as a minor change to the original EPR bill to reflect that timeline.

New York’s EPR for carpet law sets mandatory carpet recycling metrics, calls for recycled content in new carpet and requires free, convenient locations for residents to drop off old carpet. The law also bans intentionally-added perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in new carpet and sets mandatory recycling rates. 

Enactment date: January 2026

New York joins California as the latest state to establish an extended producer responsibility program for carpet. It makes producers responsible for the cost to manage end-of-life carpet. Producers must participate in an industry recycling program or establish their own recycling program approved by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. Producers have until Dec. 31, 2025, to submit plans to the state.

Bills A.9279-A/S.5027-C set mandatory carpet recycling metrics, call for recycled content in new carpet and require free, convenient locations for residents to drop off old carpet. The law also bans intentionally-added PFAS in new carpet. 

The law calls for a 30% recycling rate within five years after DEC approves each stewardship program, with 10% of that considered “closed-loop recycling,” according to the bill. The recycling rate must be 50% within 10 years and 75% within 15 years, ultimately reaching a 40% closed loop recycling rate.  

Chemical recycling is not considered a valid recycling method in this bill. Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed an amendment that would have removed that provision, according to New York Focus. That amendment did not pass. Bill proponents like the National Stewardship Action Council and the Product Stewardship Institute say the EPR program will help raise the state’s carpet recycling rate, which currently is about 1%.

Further reading

Enactment date: July 1, 2023. 

The Digital Fair Repair Act requires original equipment manufacturers to make repair information and tools for certain electronic devices, such as cell phones and laptops, available to both consumers and independent repair providers. 

Many companies do not make repair manuals and specialized repair tools available to the public, or they only make them available to their authorized repair partners. Bill proponents consider such tactics to be anticompetitive behavior and say “right to repair” laws allow consumers more control over devices. 

New York is the first state to require such information from OEMs, said Gov. Kathy Hochul when she signed the bill into law Dec. 29. “This legislation will empower consumers with better options to repair their devices, thereby maximizing the lifespan of their devices, saving money, and reducing electronic waste," she said. The law applies to covered devices manufactured or sold or used for the first time on or after July 1, 2023.

The bills, S4104A/A7006B, faced strong opposition and lobbying from manufacturers like John Deere, as well as TechNet, a trade association representing companies like Apple and Samsung, according to the Times-Union. 

The bills went through numerous revisions, ultimately exempting farm, motor vehicle, construction and medical equipment, as well as certain home appliances and safety communications equipment. The Repair Association, which advocated for the bill in the state, applauded the ultimate passage but expressed disappointment that the final bill had so many exemptions.

Further reading

Enactment date: 90 days after bill signing.

The bill, part of the state’s major package meant to overhaul Michigan’s solid waste management system, aims to shift state resources away from disposal and toward recycling, diversion and circular economy strategies.

The bill names reuse as the “principal objective” of Michigan’s solid waste management plan. It also sets an eventual 45% recycling rate target. It does not specify a deadline for that goal, but does call for reaching an interim 30% rate goal by 2029. The current state recycling rate is about 19%. 

Further reading

Enactment date: 90 days after bill signing.

HB 4459, signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Dec. 22, calls for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to provide grants or loans, or use funding from the state Solid Waste Management Fund, to improve recycling and reuse efforts or access to recycling. Money can also be spent to hire personnel to address recycled materials market development. 

The bill also calls for EGLE to create a recycling markets program and a recycling innovation program. This program would offer grants or loans for acquiring equipment or technology for R&D, recycling market development ideas, education campaigns or other projects. It encourages collaboration between the public and private sectors.

Supporters such as the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Recycling Coalition say the bill will help boost recycling rates while also fostering new and stronger business opportunities.

Further reading

Enactment date: Sept. 30, 2022.

The law prohibits processors from paying cash to certified recycling centers, curbside programs, and other bottle bill collection programs to avoid fraud. It also calls for CalRecycle to study and develop a proposal for reducing contamination in recycled glass, which the agency says is a major barrier to improving the quality of all recyclables. 

The bill did not face notable opposition. 

Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1, 2024

The law adds certain wine and distilled spirits bottles to the state’s container redemption program and establishes a 10-cent redemption value on most of the bottles. It also creates a 25-cent refund on “difficult to recycle” wine packaging, including boxes, bladders, pouches and similar plastic containers.

Other provisions in the bill provide millions of dollars in market development initiatives, grants for recycled glass and funding for local programs aimed at collecting more containers.

CalRecycle will create three new grant programs: one for the use of glass cullet in new bottles, one for pilots for glass collection bins at restaurants and other retail locations, and one to encourage rail transportation to move empty glass containers to processing facilities. 

CalRecycle will also fund curbside and neighborhood drop-off programs, municipal and county recycling and litter cleanup activities, statewide recycling education and other community recycling initiatives.

Large haulers like Recology, Republic Services and WM supported the bill, as did environmental groups like Californians Against Waste. Glass processor Strategic Materials and big names in bottling like Anheuser-Busch and Ball Corp. also supported the bill.

Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1,  2026

This new law updates the State Agency Buy Recycled Campaign to stipulate agencies must purchase recycled products whenever they are available at no more than a 10% higher total cost. Formerly, agencies could purchase the recycled versions when they were available at the same or a lower total cost than alternative options. 

The bill also lays out eligible products’ minimum recycled content and recyclability requirements. Starting in 2026, CalRecycle must update the product list and recycling requirements every three years as long as it considers market conditions, recycling rates and recycling or processing infrastructure capacity.

Supporters included several environmental groups and municipalities who said it would help increase demand for recycled products. Opponents, like the American Chemistry Council and some state manufacturers, said the bill would make it difficult to find eligible products due to nationwide supply chain constraints and increased demand for recycled content products. 

Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1, 2026

California’s SB 1215 adds battery-embedded products to the state’s e-waste program, meaning consumers will pay a disposal fee when they purchase such products starting in 2026. “Battery-embedded” means a product with a battery not designed to be easily removed. Manufacturers of covered electronic devices sold in the state will need to submit a report to CalRecycle and educate consumers on where and how to return, recycle, or dispose of the covered electronic device.

The bill did not receive formal opposition. It exempts some products like prescribed medical devices.

Further reading

Enactment date: April 1, 2025

The law establishes an extended producer responsibility program meant to make battery drop-offs easier and reduce fires in collection vehicles and at waste and recycling facilities. Manufacturers must create a stewardship organization to handle collection, transportation and recycling and keep track of how many batteries are recycled.

California already has a takeback program for some types of rechargeable batteries, but consumers dropped off numerous other types of batteries because they were not sure which ones the program covered, bill proponents said.

Supporters included the California Product Stewardship Council, a sponsor of the bill, along with Rethink Waste, Californians Against Waste, Republic Services and numerous solid waste management districts. 

Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1, 2025

AB 1985 delays enforcement penalties for jurisdictions that fail to meet organic waste procurement targets set out in SB 1383. Bill sponsors say the legislation will give local governments more time to ramp up infrastructure needed to meet the goals. It also allows renewable gas procured from a publicly owned treatment works to count toward a jurisdiction’s procurement target until 2025. Other provisions are meant to help rural counties create an adjusted organics collection target schedule starting in 2027.  

Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1, 2023

With H 5060, Massachusetts allows some anaerobic digesters and landfill gas facilities that produce biogas to qualify for the state’s peak energy incentive program starting in 2023. That program provides incentives for “clean energy technologies,” such as wind or solar, that can supply electricity or reduce demand during peak periods.

Only certain existing AD and landfill gas facilities that were operational prior to Nov. 7, 2018, can participate in program. Groups such as the National Waste & Recycling Association and Vanguard Renewables have said the opportunity still helps benefit operations in the state.

The major climate bill, which aims to reduce Massachusetts’ dependence on fossil fuels, also includes provisions removing new industrial-scale biomass plants from the state’s definition of renewable energy.

Massachusetts’ goal is to reduce carbon emissions from 1990 levels at least 33% by 2025 and at least 50% by 2030. 

Further reading

Enactment date: One year after the Department of Environmental Management issues regulations for its enforcement or Jan. 1, 2024, whichever comes first. 

The law bans single-use plastic bags at grocery stores, drugstores and other retail businesses and imposes fines. Many Rhode Island municipalities already have their own bag bans; the new law is meant to make the regulations consistent throughout the state. Supporters also say the law will help curb plastic pollution in waterways and ease contamination in recycling loads.

Stores will still be able to offer recyclable paper bags. Reusable bags will need to have “stitched handles” and be designed for 125 uses or more. The law exempts some types of single-use plastic bags, including plastic newspaper bags, bags for unwrapped bakery items or prepared foods and dry cleaning bags. 

Conservation Law Foundation Rhode Island is among the bill’s supporters.

Further reading

Enactment date: Business exemption went into effect July 1, 2022. Reimbursement goes into effect Jan.1, 2023. 

Iowa lawmakers voted to increase the reimbursement paid to bottle redemption centers from one cent per container to three cents. Beverage distributors pay the fee, but they get to keep the full five cents for containers that aren’t redeemed, the Iowa Capitol Dispatch reported. Retailers can stop taking the containers if they are licensed to prepare ready-to-eat food or are located within 10-15 miles of a redemption center, depending on a county’s population

The bill passed after years of debate over updates to the state’s aging bottle bill. State Sen. Jason Schultz, the bill sponsor, said tripling the handling fee will help redemption centers hire more employees and ease the backlog of cans piling up at several locations. The Container Recycling Institute spoke against the opt-out provision of the bill, saying it will make it harder for people to find redemption centers and that the remaining centers would be overloaded with containers.

 Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1, 2023

South Carolina’s H4775 will end weight-based collection goals for its electronics takeback program in favor of recycling convenience requirements aimed at making it easier for residents to return old TVs and computers. Some experts say this model could become more common in states with electronics EPR because devices are continuing to get lighter. The weight of electronics the state collects has declined since 2016.

The new law would require between one and three collection sites, depending on population, for each county, or four community collection events per year. Producers will still keep track of the weight of covered electronics collected, and manufacturers in the state must still cover the cost for packaging and transporting devices.

The Consumer Technology Association and the Product Stewardship Institute were among the bill’s supporters.

Further reading

Enactment date: July 1, 2025

Colorado’s new law creates an EPR program for most types of packaging that will be operated and funded by producers who join a nonprofit producer responsibility organization. Producers will pay dues each year based on the amount and type of applicable paper or packaging they use. Fees will go toward funding new or improved recycling services across the state. The bill exempts businesses with less than $5 million in gross annual revenue.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will oversee the program with input from an advisory board of recycling stakeholders. 

The PRO will hire an independent third party to assess Colorado’s recycling services by April 2024 and to identify which recycling needs aren’t being met. The assessment will look at potentially expanding recycling programs to include places like businesses, government buildings and other locations by 2028. Guidance would also include proposed recycling rates the state would need to meet by January 2030 and January 2035.

Colorado is the third state to adopt EPR for packaging. Proponents included the Colorado Municipal League and Colorado Communities for Climate Action, as well as several environmental groups. Opponents included the American Forest & Paper Association. Some waste haulers said they support EPR but felt the bill was overly complicated.

Further reading

Enactment date: Varies

Considered one of the most comprehensive state policies for organics management in the U.S., Washington’s HB 1799 sets a goal to reduce organic waste disposal 75% by 2030. It also aims to increase the volume of edible food recovery 20% by 2025. Both goals are compared with a 2015 baseline.

Businesses with at least eight cubic yards of weekly organic waste will be required to have on-site management or collection services by 2024, and generators of smaller amounts will face the same requirementin 2025 and 2026. Local governments will need to start offering source-separated organics collection services in 2027.

The bill also creates compostable product label standards — the first in the country — and updates liability standards for food donation. Other provisions require local governments to adopt new compost procurement requirements, support farm use of compost and allow for the siting of organics processing facilities.

The Washington Refuse & Recycling Association, which represents haulers and composters such as WM, Republic Services and Waste Connections, supported the bill.

Further reading

Enactment date: July 1, 2025

Oregon’s bottle bill update adds canned wine, but not wine in glass bottles. 

The state’s bottle bill already covers aluminum beer cans, so the bill is meant to make it easier for residents to redeem the growing number of canned wine containers. Many residents assume the canned wine containers already carry a deposit, bill supporters say.  

The Oregon wine industry took a neutral position on the bill, except to advocate for moving implementation from 2024 to 2025. The Association of Oregon Recyclers supported the bill.

 Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 1, 2023 

Oregon’s mattress EPR bill, SB 1576, is meant to reduce illegal dumping and offer “free, convenient and accessible” collection sites in every county. Mattress producers must join a stewardship organization, pay an annual fee and submit a mattress management plan for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s approval no later than Oct. 1, 2023. The stewardship organization has seven months after initial approval to implement the plan. 

Mattress producers also need to decide on collection targets, recycling goals and public awareness plans. Consumers who buy a new mattress in the state will have to pay a flat fee for the program, which DEQ will set. Several state recycling organizations, as well as mattress industry stakeholders such as the International Sleep Products Association, supported the bill. 

Further reading

Enactment date: Jan. 6, 2024

New Jersey’s post-consumer recycled content law establishes minimum recycled content requirements starting in 2024 for certain plastic, glass and paper packaging. It also bans polystyrene packing peanuts in 2024. 

The bill establishes these minimum post-consumer recycled content standards:

• 10% for rigid plastic containers, rising incrementally to 50% by 2036
• 15% for plastic beverage containers, rising incrementally to 50% by 2045
• 35% for recycled content in glass bottles 
• 20% for plastic carryout bags, rising incrementally to 40% by 2027.
• Between 20% and 40% for paper carryout bags, depending on size 
• A range of standards from 10% to 40% for plastic trash bags based on thickness 

Both supporters and critics of the bill see its passage as a significant sign that New Jersey and the broader region will need to prioritize recycling collection in the coming years. Those in opposition, including AMERIPEN, the Consumer Brands Association, PLASTICS, the Glass Packaging Institute and the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce, said the bill did not thoroughly assess current markets to make sure the post-consumer content standards will be feasible. Supporters like Environment New Jersey and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries said the bill had achievable and clear metrics.

 Further reading