AB 1454 (Bloom)
Bottle Bill Modernization

OVERVIEW

AB 1454 helps keep recycling centers open and provides much-needed support for new centers to open in areas where there aren’t enough centers to serve consumers, including rural areas.

THE ISSUE

Container recycling rates are dropping in some regions: Statewide beverage container recycling rates have fallen below 70% for the first time in 13 years, meaning that too many bottles and cans are ending up in landfills or as litter. Data from CalRecycle demonstrates that the most likely reason is because in communities and regions where recycling rates are lowest, there aren’t enough locations or opportunities for people to return these containers for recycling.

Outdated laws have led to recycling center closures:  More than 1000 community-based recycling centers have closed since 2015 because of outdated statutory requirements for calculating compensation.  Record low global prices for scrap materials have compounded the problem. 

For 30 years, the Bottle Bill program has relied on a rigid “Convenience Zone” definition to determine where new recycling centers are located and which centers can receive supplemental recycling incentives, ( also known as “Handling Fees”). But it is clear that this definition does not currently serve the public sufficiently:  CalRecycle’s 2018 Handling Fee Report and 2020 AB 54 Report to the Legislature indicate that ‘unserved zones’ and ‘unserved/underserved communities’ do not always correlate.

CalRecycle clearly needs greater flexibility and authority to define and establish Convenience Zones and provide resources to regions that need centers. Unserved and underserved areas of the state could be covered by as few as 400-600 thoughtfully located community-based recycling centers. 

With key changes to outdated and unnecessarily rigid statutory requirements for the creating more recycling opportunities, CalRecycle will be able to certify and support innovative and convenient recycling opportunities such as mobile recycling, Bottle Drop, and Reverse Vending Machines, especially in the regions that need these opportunities the most.

 

Position: Sponsored by Californians Against Waste
Contact: Mark Murray

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BILL SUMMARY

AB 1454 makes the Bottle Bill program more efficient and effective through the following modifications:

  • Provides targeted increase in payments to recycling centers to better reflect the actual average cost of diverse (small, medium & large) community-based recycling centers based on CalRecycle’s 2020 cost survey.

  • Reestablish Plastic Quality Incentive Payments to further enable the state’s achieving its minimum recycled content requirements on plastic beverage containers.

  • Expands Convenience Zone recycler incentive (Handling Fee) eligibility beyond Supermarket parking lots to any recycler willing to open in a currently unserved zone.

  • Provides start-up financing (up to $25,000 per location) to any certified entity that opens and operates a recycling center in one of the 400-600 unserved/underserved areas. Authorizes loan forgiveness after 18 months of successful operation.

  • Right-sizes Convenience Zones to meet community needs based on CalRecycle recommendations.

Status: Dead. Not heard by Senate Environmental Quality Committee.
Current language, analysis, and votes:  AB 1454