California’s expanded bottle bill comes with a hefty price tag

Dive briefs:

• California’s new bottle bill provision, which adds wine and spirits to the program, is expected to increase the state’s glass recycling rate and add funding to recycling programs. In the introductory webinar, we said that this effort would cost a lot of money.
• numerous provisions SB1013 About $900 million in recycling program spending will be added over six years, according to CRI.He also added that $379 million in recycling spending was passed in another state budget bill. AB179provides CalRecycle with funding for beverage container recycling and waste reduction efforts.
• The state’s Beverage Container Fund balance was last reported at $635 million by CRI calculations. CRI President Susan Collins said about $1.3 billion in new spending over the next six years could significantly deplete that funding and prevent the bottle bill program from being effective. Incredible savings. “I don’t have enough money to go around,” she said at the webinar.

Dive Insight:

The bill was one of the more substantial changes to the state’s container deposit system in recent years, and proponents say it required the state to invest more money in the program.

The measure would add wine and spirits to the state’s container deposit system beginning January 1, 2024. Set a redemption value of 10 cents for most bottles, and a 25-cent reimbursement for “difficult-to-recycle” wines. Packaging including boxes, bladders, pouches, and similar plastic containers.

Proponents of SB 1013 also say the inclusion of wine and liquor bottles will increase the state’s glass drink recycling rate from about 30% to about 59%, bringing in clean glass for recycling. CRI estimates that about 500 million containers are recycled each year. CRI also estimates curbside and drop-off programs could generate $46 million in revenue from bottles of wine and spirits.

The bill received broad support from major carriers including Recology, Republic Services and WM. Environmental groups, glass bottle manufacturers such as Anheuser-Busch and recycled glass processor Strategic Materials also supported the bill. But groups such as Consumer Watchdog say the bill should have directed funds toward improving redemption access. Initially a major supporter, the CRI changed its stance to neutral, citing too many costs included in the bill.

Other provisions of the bill provide millions of dollars in funding for market development initiatives, grants for the collection, transportation and reuse of recycled glass, and community programs aimed at collecting more containers. is provided.

Among these provisions, one of the bill’s key expenditure items is payments for market development. CalRecycle will provide a total of $60 million annually through the end of 2027 to manufacturers who purchase recycled glass collected in California for use in new beverage containers.

The law also directs CalRecycle to form three glass processing incentive grants totaling $9 million annually. We offer up to $4 million a year to encourage the use of glass cullet in new bottles. The second will provide $4 million annually in grants for regional pilot programs that provide glass collection bins in restaurants and other retail outlets. A third $1 million annual grant is aimed at facilitating the use of rail transport to move empty glass containers to processing facilities. The three grant programs will take effect on his January 1, 2023, Collins said. This comes a year before CRI expects more glass containers to enter the recycling stream.

CalRecycle will also spend $15 million annually on curbside and neighborhood drop-off programs. Other funds will strengthen statewide recycling education, other local recycling initiatives, and waste reduction programs.

California’s budget bill, in addition to the container deposit system and related efforts that receive the funds presented in SB 1013, provides CalRecycle with $233 million in 2023 for use in beverage container recycling and waste reduction efforts. I’m asking for more than a dollar. Over three years, the CRI estimates that the budget bill’s recycling provisions will total about $380 million.

2023 funding includes $73.3 million for recycling programs, recycling centers, mobile recycling, reverse vending machines and bag drops, dealer cooperatives and equipment start-up costs. He’s also asking for $30 million in start-up loans to fabricators and recyclers.

An additional $25 million next year will fund a deposit return system program that incorporates refillable containers. This is a significant investment in reusable packaging infrastructure, Collins said.

“I am really excited to see what California can do to build new infrastructure for renewable energy. [support] “It’s like this all over the country,” she said.

The budget also calls for funding for workforce development and plastics market development programs, but CRI is neutral on this project.