SWANA endorses bottle bills, with qualifications

The board of directors of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) has approved a new technical policy regarding beverage container deposit-return systems, or DRS, also referred to as bottle bills. SWANA describes its technical policies as a resource for members and as guiding documents for its positions.

The Silver Spring, Maryland-based organization says its Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Technical Division Advocacy Committee led an effort to update an existing policy.

SWANA, which has members that include public waste and recycling jurisdictions and private sector members, says policymakers in both the United States and Canada have “recently intensified their focus on recycling refund programs.”

The organization's updated policy describes several factors for a successful system, including emphasizing that existing recyclers should be allowed to participate; that ownership of the materials should be held by whoever possesses the material; that deposit value should be high enough to incentivize returns; and that funds generated should be reinvested into the system.

SWANA says DRS policy should incentivize container design that works effectively with the systems and that the system should be designed to mitigate potential for fraud.

The organization lists key discussion points policymakers should factor into the development of a DRS program, including integration of the existing recycling infrastructure, ownership of material; deposit value, whether the DRS is self-sustaining financially, site selection, container design, safety and system integrity.

Several of the considerations are similar to those offered by consulting firm Reloop, which issued its perspective on DRS best practices last year.

Recycling equipment and technology vendor Tomra, which supplied a member to SWANA’s Policy Committee for the DRS update, issued a best practices list in 2021 that shares traits with the SWANA and Reloop recommendations.

“The team discussed with open, productive, deliberate dialogue and a vote of the majority when necessary,” says Maia Corbitt, chair of the advocacy committee for the SMM Technical Division. “Ultimately, the policy guidance was passed in both the SMM Advocacy Committee and SWANA board of directors by unanimous vote.”

“The SMM Legislative Advocacy Committee took on several important initiatives in 2023, not the least of which was the revamped container DRS policy,” SWANA Technical Division Director to the Board Allison Trulock says.

“Bringing the policy into the 21st century, especially considering potential federal legislation on the topic, included several discussions with a wide range of points of view that ultimately resulted in consensus around the new policy. Kudos to the entire committee for their tireless efforts on this and other SMM policy initiatives.”