Did you know that the BottleDrop network is always expanding and adding new drop locations for your Green and Blue Bags? You can stay up-to-date on the most convenient options near you by viewing the location finder on our website. Just type your zip code in the search box and select “Drop Green or Blue Bags” from the menu, then click “Find Locations.”

AOR is participating in the BottleDrop Give Blue Bag Fundraisers 2nd Annual Earth Day Give!

Two advocacy groups and a consulting firm they hired have prepared a 20-page report saying a “precipitous decline” in funding for California’s bottle bill has led to redemption rates falling from a peak of 85 percent to 66 percent in recent years. The bottle bill legislation has an 80 percent target rate.

May 31 is Latest Extension to the Halt of Enforcement of Redemption Requirements

April 23, 2020

Stay-at-home orders are hitting container deposit systems hard, leading to significant declines in the volumes of high-quality recyclables moving to material processors.

Eight out of the 10 states with container redemption systems have enacted temporary measures limiting deposit returns in some way. The fallout for recycled material processors has been expansive.

With less material coming in, companies are shouldering higher costs as they scramble to supply their customers and adapt to the fast-changing landscape. In other cases, they’re curtailing operations temporarily.

Agency Continuing Halt of Enforcement of Redemption Requirements until April 30

Portland, OR -- The Oregon Liquor Control Commission will extend its non-enforcement posture with Oregon retailers that choose not to accept empty beverage containers for redemption because of continuing pandemic-related staffing concerns for grocers and supermarkets. The enforcement suspension will now stay in effect until April 30, 2020; if stores don’t take back empty beverage containers during the temporary period the OLCC will not issue them a notice of violation.

It’s been a busy few weeks in Salem as legislators raced to meet the April 9 deadline for committees to hold work sessions on bills and move them out of committee for floor votes or consideration by joint House-Senate committees such as Ways and Means, Revenue or Rules.

Public hearings and work sessions were held on a number of bills of interest to AOR members. This update includes an action alert on a bill that would negatively impact Oregon’s Bottle Bill and updates on other bills of interest.

Oregon’s bottle deposit system is recycling more containers than ever before despite major disruptions in global recycling markets.

Last year, Oregon recycled 90 percent of the beverage containers covered by its bottle deposit system. The rate has jumped from 64 percent just two years ago and the total number of bottles recycled reached an all-time high of 2 billion in 2018.

Continue Reading at OPB.

What began as an anti-littering measure has become an overwhelmingly popular recycling policy. But after more than 40 years of regularly returning more than 90 percent of bottles and cans, Michigan remains one of of the worst states for recycling in the nation. Michigan only recycles 15 percent of all possible materials, compared with a national average of 35 percent.

Oregon’s iconic Bottle Bill is being celebrated with a new sculpture in Salem. In 1971, Oregon became the first state in the nation to require a deposit on beverage containers for soda and beer. That landmark legislation is the inspiration for a new nine-foot-tall steel and aluminum sculpture in downtown Salem.