SB 724 (Stern, Glazer)—Bottle Bill Buy-Back Centers

Overview: This bill would amend California’s Bottle Bill Program to provide temporary financial assistance to recycling centers while providing exemptions to dealers from various consumer redemption opportunities.

CAW Position: Support

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Status: Dead - Held in Senate Appropriations Committee

In Context: California’s beverage container recycling infrastructure and consumers opportunity to recycle is in the midst of a three year crisis initiated by a global decline in scrap values but perpetuated by the failure of California program payments to keep pace and offset revenue loss.

The crisis has seen a closure of 38% of recycling centers—more than 127 cities and 2 counties have no operating centers, and hundreds of other communities are underserved. The closures have resulted in a 10% drop in recycling rates.

The crisis has underscored the fact that more than half of beverage containers generated in the state are consumed outside the home and, thus, not available to the curbside system. In addition to consumer redemption, the buyback network supports container recycling by school and church groups, litter clean-up efforts, non-profits and commercial collection. According to CalRecycle, just 10% of beverage container recycling occurs via curbside.

SB 724 is aimed at addressing this crisis by restoring support for the recycling infrastructure to 2015 levels, and providing CalRecycle with new incentives and authority returning recycling to unserved/underserved communities. This measure will help maximize beverage container recovery, expand consumer convenience, and ensure that every container generated has the opportunity to be recycled into a new product. To do so, the bill contains three key elements to stabilize the recycling marketplace:

  • Restore recycling incentives to the infrastructure (buy back, drop-off, collection and curbside) to 2015 level (reflective of statutory cost-of-living and the reasonable financial return adjustments);

  • Refocus CalRecycle resources on bringing recycling opportunities to unserved communities, while providing temporary relief to some dealers faced with take-back requirements at no fault of their own; and

  • Require CalRecycle to develop recommendations to the Legislature to ensure that program payments are adequate to maintain the state’s recycling infrastructure.

Bill Summary: Among other things, SB 724:

  • Exempts specified dealers that are located in specific recently unserved convenience zones from Bottle Bill redemption requirements until 2022.

  • Limits the number of exemptions for a convenience zones.

  • Requires, for purposes of calculating processing payments, CalRecycle to use the costs of recycling that were in effect on December 30, 2015, and to use a certain formula in calculating the reasonable financial return.  Prohibits, until December 31, 2019, CalRecycle from imposing a processing fee on beverage manufacturers that is higher than what would be imposed under existing law.

  • Authorizes supplemental handling fee payments to low-volume recycling centers and recyclers willing to open a recycling center in a recently unserved convenience zone.

Current language, analysis, and votes

Supporters: For full list of supporters, see the Senate E.Q. analysis

CAW Staff Contact: Mark Murray, (916)443-5422