Before Connecticut can begin phasing in its new, expanded bottle-deposit return program on Jan. 1, lawmakers made minor revisions to the decades-old “Bottle Bill” law during an abbreviated one-day session on Monday.
Since 1980, Connecticut’s Bottle Bill has allowed returns of certain kinds of used bottles and cans in exchange for a 5-cent redemption as part of the state’s litter-reduction efforts. Beginning next year, the program will expand to allow redemptions for a host of new products, including teas, hard seltzers and ciders, energy drinks and coffee.
While lawmakers approved those changes in 2021, lingering supply chain issues have resulted in many retailers being unable to secure orders of new products that are stamped with the proper “return for deposit” or other markers to signify the bottles and cans are eligible for a nickel redemption.
Lawmakers chose to give a one-time exemption to allow retailers to sell older stocks of bottles and cans they have on hand at the end of the year once the new rules take effect on Jan. 1. Those changes were tucked into the end of the 28 pages of legislation that Connecticut lawmakers took up during Monday’s special session in a bill signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont Tuesday.
The original article can be found at Connecticut Food Association.
