Bottle bills pay consumers a redemption fee—usually five cents—when they return an empty bottle. The laws cut down on roadside litter.
Only 10 states have a bottle bill—California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon and Vermont. Delaware had a bottle bill but it was repealed in 2009.
Oregon was the first state to pass a bottle bill in 1971 (implemented in 1972). Vermont was second. It passed a bill in 1972, which was implemented in 1973.
Vermont may have been second to Oregon, but has a higher redemption rate (85 percent versus Oregon’s 68 to 75 percent). Michigan has the nation’s highest redemption rate, a whopping 97 percent by one estimate, but that is likely because it pays the highest redemption fee—10 cents versus the more typical 5 cents.
An earlier attempt in 1953 by the state of Vermont named the “Beverage Container Law” required beer to be sold in refillable bottles. The industry fought it vigorously and after four years the bill was rescinded and beer went back to being sold the way it had been.
Bottle bills are political. Conservative states find it intrusive while liberal states find it environmentally friendly. It is also an area ripe for lobbying. The beverage industry fights such laws in states that do not have them and stops them from being expanded to things like water bottles in states that already have bottle bills.
http://www.bottlebill.org/legislation/usa/allstates.htm www.uvm.edu/~vlrs/Environment/Bottle%20Bills.pdf