听Beverage container redemption rates for 2023 in seven of the nine U.S. deposit return system (DRS, aka bottle bill) states with available data dropped in the range of 1% to 4% compared to 2022, according to data released today by the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), a national nonprofit recycling industry authority. The rate in Oregon increased by 1%. In Vermont it increased by less than two-tenths of a percent, but the number rounded up to 1%. Overall findings from CRI鈥檚 data compilation include the following (see the chart below for complete details):听
听CRI President Susan Collins said that although the redemption rate decreases from 2022 to 2023 may not seem significant, data since 2017 primarily show downward redemption rate trends, including a drop in Massachusetts by 21% (from 57% to 36%) and in Michigan by 18% (from 91% to 73%), both over seven years. In addition, the redemption rate calculated in Iowa in 2016 was 67%, meaning it dropped by 18% between then and 2022.听
She added, 鈥淭hese trends point to the need for more deposit return system modernizations, such as higher container deposit amounts, coverage of more beverage types, and additional convenient options for consumers to return bottles and cans. We鈥檝e seen some progress on this front in recent years 鈥� particularly with several program upgrades in Oregon and Connecticut鈥檚 2021 passage of major expansion legislation 鈥� but not enough.鈥�听
Deposit Materials鈥� Key Role in the Supply Chain听
Collins said that higher redemption rates are increasingly crucial to ensure a greater supply of clean, high-quality material to meet recycled content laws adopted in several jurisdictions, as well as plastics reduction commitments from major brands. In 2020, four of the largest trade associations for beverage container materials 鈥� the National Association of PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), the Aluminum Association, the Can Manufacturers Institute and the Glass Packaging Institute 鈥� issued a statement on the critical importance of deposit beverage containers in the materials supply chain.听
Part of the statement read, 鈥淢aterial from beverage container deposit systems generally accounts for 20-60% of the inputs our industries use to make our essential packaging. The high quality of recyclables collected and purchased by our industries from these programs require very little sortation and can go quickly back into our manufacturing processes.鈥�听
Collins added, 鈥淭he bottom line is that we require modernization of several state beverage container deposit return systems and establishment of new programs in non-deposit states or 鈥� ideally 鈥� passage of a well-designed national law so manufacturers and suppliers have access to enough recycled content moving forward. Upgraded and new programs also would bring the significant environmental and economic benefits we know deposit systems provide.鈥�听
Deposit Return Program Successes听
Collins said data validate that modernized beverage container DRS programs make a significant difference in redemption rates. As Oregon has enhanced its program over the last 15 years to provide a 10-cent deposit, cover nearly all beverage types and establish an extremely robust bottle and can return infrastructure, the redemption rate has increased dramatically. Looking back seven years, it has grown from 73% in 2017 to a nation-leading 87% in 2023.听
She also noted that program modernizations passed in Connecticut and California over the last three years should lead to increases in the volume of bottles and cans redeemed as the new provisions take effect and consumers adjust their behavior to return the newly eligible containers for deposit refunds.听
Connecticut鈥檚 program upgrades, being implemented in stages, are already beginning to show results. Deposit coverage was added to noncarbonated beverages, hard cider and malt-based hard cider effective Jan. 1, 2023, and the deposit amount was increased from 5 cents to 10 cents effective Jan. 1, 2024. The state鈥檚 Department of Energy and Environmental Protection recently reported that the redemption rate increased from 43.7% in Q1 2023 to 53.5% in Q1 2024.听
In California, the addition of deposits on wine and spirits took effect on Jan. 1, 2024. CRI estimates this should result in more than half a billion additional containers recycled annually once consumers fully adopt the practice of returning these new containers. California legislation also placed deposits (starting this year) on 100% fruit and vegetable juices in larger sizes than previously included in DRS program, adding coverage to an estimated 188 million new containers.听
Collins said it is important to remember that while enhanced and new beverage container DRS programs are definitely needed, the rate of the weakest program (Massachusetts, with a 2023 redemption rate of 36%) is still 10 percentage points higher than the U.S. nominal recycling rate of 26% for containers not on deposit.听
Efforts continue in states with outdated deposit systems to pass legislation to improve their programs. (A bill with an amendment to modernize Massachusetts鈥� DRS failed to pass before the 2024 legislative session adjourned on July 31, 2024.) At the same time, an increasing number of proposals are being put forward to establish deposit systems in non-deposit states and on a national level.听
鈥淚t is encouraging to see greater interest in new and upgraded DRS programs across the nation,鈥� Collins said. 鈥淏ased on decades of data, we know that these programs are the single most effective way to increase beverage container recycling rates 鈥� a key element of creating a more a circular economy.鈥�听
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(See the chart below for beverage container redemption rate data for U.S. deposit states. For detailed information on U.S. and international beverage container deposit return programs, visit and click on 鈥淓xisting Programs.鈥� )听
