Amendment ID: S2829-67-R1
Redraft Amendment 67
Modernizing the Container Deposit Law
Ms. Creem, Ms. Edwards, Mr. Eldridge, Ms. Comerford, Mr. Lewis, Ms. Jehlen and Mr. Brady move that the proposed new draft be amended by inserting after section 36 the following 14 sections:-
“SECTION 36A. Section 321 of chapter 94 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the definitions of “Beverage” and “Beverage container” and inserting in place thereof the following 2 definitions:-
“Beverage”, any drinkable liquid intended for human oral consumption; provided, however, that “beverage” shall not include: (i) a drug regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq; (ii) infant formula; (iii) a meal replacement liquid; or (iv) products for which the first ingredient is derived from animal milk.
“Beverage container”, an individual, separate, sealed glass, metal, plastic or multi-material bottle, can or jar designed to hold not more than 3.79 liters; provided, however, that “beverage container” shall not include any container: (i) of not more than 150 milliliters that contains no alcohol content; (ii) that is a carton or pouch; and (iii) that is aseptic.
SECTION 36B. Said section 321 of said chapter 94, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of “Consumer” the following definition:-
“Contracted agent”, a person acting for, or on behalf of, a registered deposit initiator to collect, process or administer payments of deposits and handling fees on empty beverage containers accepted from redemption centers and dealers.
SECTION 36C. Said section 321 of said chapter 94, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of “Dealer” the following 2 definitions:-
“Department”, the department of environmental protection.
“Deposit initiator”, the first dealer, distributor, retailer or other party to collect the deposit on a beverage container sold to any person within the commonwealth.
SECTION 36D. Said section 321 of said chapter 94, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of “Plastic bottle” the following 3 definitions:-
“Recycle”, the series of activities by which a covered product is: (i) collected, sorted and processed; (ii) converted into a raw material with minimal loss of material quality; and (iii) used in the production of a new product, including the original product; provided, however, that “recycle” shall not include any method of sorting, processing or aggregating materials from solid waste that substantially degrades the original material quality, such that the aggregated material is no longer usable for its initial purposes or for a substantially similar product.
“Reusable beverage container”, any beverage container designed and constructed to be structurally capable of being refilled and resold by a bottle not less than 50 times after its initial use as part of a washing system that meets the health and safety standards of the commonwealth.
“Reverse vending machine” a mechanical device that accepts used beverage containers from consumers and provides a means of refunding the refund value for such beverage container to the user of such device.
SECTION 36E. Section 322 of said chapter 94, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the word “five” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 10
SECTION 36F. Section 323 of said chapter 94, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “returned”, in line 8, the following words:- “; provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply to a dealer whose place of business is not more than 2,000 square feet; provided further, that a redemption center or dealer shall pay the refund value at the time the beverage container is returned; and provided further, that, at the request of a consumer, a redemption center or dealer may repay deposits through an account system in which the amount of refund value is placed into an account to be held for the benefit of the consumer and such account is funded in a manner that allows the customer to obtain deposits due within 2 business days of the time of return.”
SECTION 36G. Said section 323 of said chapter 94, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 13, the words “at least one” and inserting in place there of the following words:- not less than 3.25.
SECTION 36H. Said section 323 of said chapter 94, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 37, the words “at least one” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- not less than 4.
SECTION 36I. Section 325 of said chapter 94, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “container”, in line 6, the following words:- “and a universal product code barcode to identify and validate participation in the redemption program”
SECTION 36J. Said section 325 of said chapter 94, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 22, the word “five” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 10.
SECTION 36K. Said section 325 of said chapter 94, as amended by section 36J, is hereby further amended by adding the following subsection:-
(c) Each deposit initiator shall provide such universal product code barcode, with packaging information, to reverse vending machine system administrators and contracted agents not less than 30 days prior to placement of any such beverage container on the market.
SECTION 36L. Section 326 of said chapter 94, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the first paragraph the following paragraph:-
The secretary of energy and environmental affairs shall review and may increase handling fees not less than every 3 years. In setting and reviewing handling fees, the secretary shall consider whether there are enough points of redemption across the commonwealth and whether a higher handling fee would increase the number of points of redemption.
SECTION 36M. Said chapter 94 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 327 the following section:-
Section 327A. (a) Annually, not later than June 1, the department shall publish a report containing information, including, but not limited to, the average statewide redemption rate for the preceding calendar year, calculated as the number of beverage containers redeemed for deposit divided by the number of beverage containers sold; provided, however, that the commissioner of revenue shall make the data necessary to compile this information available to the department.
(b) Annually, not later than February 1 and as determined by the commissioner of revenue, each deposit initiator shall provide to the department a report that includes the: (i) locations where its redeemed containers were delivered for processing and recycling; (ii) number of its redeemed containers processed and recycled at each location; and (iii) number of beverage containers it sold.
Annually, not later than June 1, the department shall report the information provided pursuant to this subsection to the joint committee on telecommunications, utilities and energy and the joint committee on environment and natural resources.
(c) A dealer shall post a conspicuous sign, at the point of sale, that states: “STATE LAW REQUIRES US TO REDEEM EMPTY RETURNABLE BEVERAGE CONTAINERS OF THE TYPE, SIZE AND BRAND SOLD BY US WITHIN THE PAST 60 DAYS. TO REPORT REFUSAL OF REDEMPTION, CONTACT THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AT 617-556-1054 or mass.gov/orgs/massachusetts-department-of-environmental-protection.” The posted sign may also include the toll-free telephone number as established by the department of environmental protection; provided, however, that the sign shall be not less than 8 inches by 10 inches in size and have lettering a minimum of 1/4 inch high and of a color which contrasts with the background. The department shall maintain a website and toll-free telephone number for a “bottle bill hotline” that shall be available from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each business day to receive reports of violations.
SECTION 36N. Section 326A of said chapter 94, inserted by section 36M, is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-
“(d) The department shall, through its own communications and by engaging deposit initiators and dealers, educate consumers regarding the redemption value for beverage containers and how and where they can redeem containers for deposit money.”; and
by inserting after section 98 the following section:-
“SECTION 98A. The department of environmental protection shall conduct a study of the opportunities for, and potential strengths and weaknesses of, an expanded reusable beverage container return and refill system in the commonwealth pursuant to which beverage containers would be collected for reuse, washed and refilled. For the purposes of this section, “reusable beverage container” shall have the same meaning as in section 321 of chapter 94 of the General Laws. Not later than December 31, 2025, the department shall publish for public comment a draft of the study required under this section and shall submit the final study to the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives not later than May 1, 2026; provided, however, that the final study shall also be published on the department’s website.”; and
by inserting after section 103 the following 2 sections:-
“SECTION 103A. Section 36K shall take effect on January 1, 2026.
SECTION 103B. Section 36N shall take effect on February 1, 2026.”.