Bill > S1777

This bill proposes to conditionally expand the state's "bottle bill," a law that requires a deposit on certain beverage containers to encourage recycling. Key provisions include requiring the Department of Environmental Protection to publish annual reports on municipal and statewide recycling rates, redefining what constitutes a "beverage" to include a wider range of non-alcoholic drinks like water, sports drinks, and coffee, while excluding milk-based products and those with at least 10% juice, and exempting containers made of paper-based biodegradable material and aseptic multi-material packaging from the bottle bill. The bill also introduces definitions for "redemption center" and "small dealer," allows for the refund value of bottles to be reviewed and potentially increased every five years based on the consumer price index, and adjusts the handling fee paid to redemption centers, also subject to five-year reviews. Furthermore, it establishes penalties for tendering containers not originally sold in the state, dedicates 100% of collected funds from non-carbonated soft drinks to specific environmental and community funds, and grants the Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Revenue enforcement authority with administrative penalties for violations. Finally, if the statewide recycling rate drops below the previous year's rate, the Department of Environmental Protection will notify the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, triggering the implementation of these expanded bottle bill provisions.