FAQs

This is part of a Connecticut state law designed to help the environment and local towns. It is designed to help address three problems:

1. First, beverage containers have become the number one item found littered in Connecticut. When these containers make their way to beaches and the ocean, the plastic in particular harms wildlife.¹ Deposit recycling programs have been proven to triple or even quadruple recycling rates and reduce beverage container litter² – usually between 40-80% depending on how much each container is worth (the deposit value).³
2. Second, the cost of recycling and trash has increased significantly for Connecticut towns. Some towns have seen their recycling costs go up 1,100%.⁴ Diverting cans and bottles to the deposit recycling system helps towns limit the burden of recycling and waste costs on taxes, because the deposit system is paid for by beverage companies, not the public.
3. And third, Connecticut burns much of its waste which helps create electricity – but also is harmful for the climate and causes health risks for surrounding communities. Finding ways to reduce, reuse and recycle helps Connecticut limit the number of these facilities in operation.

The law is changing because Connecticut’s deposit recycling law hasn’t been updated significantly since it was started in 1980 and beverage container recycling rates are down (from 88% in 2000 to 46 in 2021).⁵

So, Connecticut passed a new law to make more beverages like sports drinks and juice eligible for a deposit refund – and in 2024 the deposit will increase from five cents to a dime. When Oregon raised it’s deposit from five to ten cents it raised the beverage container recycling rate from 64% to 86 in three years.⁶

• Connecticut residents consume about 3.1 billion cans and bottles a year.⁷ And about 30-50% are consumed outside the home – where recycling bins or even trash bins are not always available.⁸ A deposit program rewards people for recycling containers which cuts down on litter and plastic pollution, usually between 40-80% depending on how much each container is worth.⁹ Beverage containers are the most commonly littered item in the state so that is one reason why policymakers felt more needed to be done to address the problem.¹⁰
• Also, when cans and bottles are put into “single-stream” curbside recycling, where all materials are mixed together, this can contaminate the material making it less likely to actually be recycled. Connecticut’s curbside system has a real challenge recycling glass. Much of the glass placed in single-stream curbside bins in Connecticut is used to cover landfills – not sent for recycling. 100% of the glass collected in the deposit system is recycled, most goes right back into glass bottles or high quality food packaging.

• Only certain container materials and sizes are eligible for a deposit. The program includes all metal, glass and plastic containers of the eligible beverages above ONLY. That means paper cartons and pouches are not included.
• And there are size limits. Containers below 150 milliliters are not included. (That means liquor “nips” or miniatures are not included). Non-carbonated beverages larger than 2.5 liters are not included and carbonated beverage larger than 3 liters are not included. Larger containers are excluded to make automated redemption easier for the public and retailers.
• Food containers and other recyclables are excluded because they are typically contain food residue which hampers their recyclability, are not commonly littered and might be made of hard to recycle materials.
• Prior to January 1, 2023, just soda, beer, carbonated energy drinks and water were eligible for a deposit.

See this page for how it works and this page for finding the nearest return location.

There are several reasons why a container may not be accepted by a Reverse Vending Machine (RVM):

• First, the container must be eligible for a deposit refund Find out which beverages, containers and material types are eligible here.

• The barcode needs to be properly printed and designed on the container. Poorly printed or designed barcodes may not be read by the machine.
• The beverage company might not have registered their product in the deposit system.
• Stores only need to take back the type of beverages that they sell. Many stores take back all deposit containers as a courtesy to consumers, but not all. Typically, people will sort their containers by the stores where they do the most shopping. That makes redeeming easier. Alternatively, “Redemption centers” are locations that exclusively take back cans and bottles and they typically take all kinds of deposit containers. Find the nearest return location near you here.

• When the beverage industry shifted from refillable containers to single use containers in the 1970’s, Connecticut residents grew concerned about a growing litter problem. A coalition of citizen action groups, the League of Women Voters, and environmentalists helped successfully pass Connecticut’s deposit law in 1978 after Vermont and Oregon adopted similar laws.
• The deposit law helped Connecticut achieve high beverage container recycling rates. In 2000, the state achieved an 88% redemption rate for deposit containers. But in recent years Connecticut’s beverage container redemption rate has dropped to 46%.¹¹ And beverage containers are back to being a top litter item in the state.
• To address this and reduce town recycling costs, Connecticut passed a law to upgrade the deposit recycling program by making more beverages eligible for a deposit and raising the deposit value from five to ten cents.
• The law passed with both Republican and Democrat support (33 to 1 in the State Senate).¹² And the idea is very popular with Connecticut residents. A 2020 poll showed 81% of likely Connecticut voters supported expanding the deposit law. With a majority of Republicans, Democrats and Independents saying they “strongly supported” the idea.¹³

The state made an agreement with the liquor industry to place a five cent fee on the sale of each liquor nip. The liquor industry then sends those funds to the towns/municipalities where the container was sold to be used for litter prevention and recycling programs.

Containers are picked up and brought to processing facilities in Connecticut and our neighboring states where they are sorted further before being sold to recycling facilities. One of the largest companies collecting Connecticut’s deposit containers, has confirmed that 100% of the containers they collect in the deposit program are recycled, most back into beverage or high quality food-grade packaging. This is possible because the containers are sorted separately by material, keeping them clean, which makes recycling much easier. A beverage can be redeemed and then recycled and back on the shelf in as little as 60 days.

• Right, “reduce” and “reuse” come first in the “reduce, reuse, recycle” slogan. And they are still the best way to reduce the personal environmental impact of packaging consumption.
• That’s actually one of the benefits of a deposit recycling program like Connecticut’s. Because it builds the take-back infrastructure and helps encourage consumers to return packaging – two things the state would need if it is ever going to transition to reusable containers.
• Other states like Oregon have built off of their deposit system to start a refillable/reusable beverage system – where one bottle can be reused dozens of times. This is something that could come to Connecticut if there is public support for it and the beverage industry sees the need to invest in a total system redesign. For the time being, the deposit system is designed to handle the 3.1 billion single use containers that Connecticut residents consume each year.

Starting January 2023 some of the unredeemed deposits will go to the state government and some will be shared with the beverage companies that pay for the deposit recycling system. Over time more will be shared with the beverage companies to help over their container pickup and recycling costs. By 2026, 55% of the unredeemed deposits will be shared with the beverage industry and 45% will stay with the state.

¹ “Prevent Pollution in the Connecticut River: Expand the Bottle Bill,” CTRiver.org. 2020.
² On average states without a deposit program achieve a 22% beverage container recycling rate, whereas states with a deposit average 66%. The two states with a ten cent deposit average an 88% recycling rate (pre-COVID). ‘Testimony to Connecticut Legislature,” Container Recycling Institute. 2021.
³ “Fact Sheet: Deposit Return Systems Reduce Litter,” Reloop. 2021.
⁴ “CT Recycling Market Collapses,” CTPost. 2020.
⁵ “Roadside Litter Control,” Maryland Transportation Technology Transfer Center. 2001.
⁶ “Oregon,” BottleBill.org. 2022.
⁷ “Beverage Market Data Analysis – Connecticut,” Container Recycling Institute. 2018.
⁸ “Clean and Green Vermont,” Container Recycling Institute and Vermont Public Interest Research Group. 2013.
⁹ “Fact Sheet: Deposit Return Systems Reduce Litter,” Reloop. 2021.
¹⁰ “Prevent Pollution in the Connecticut River: Expand the Bottle Bill,” CTRiver.org. 2020.
¹¹ “Roadside Litter Control,” Maryland Transportation Technology Transfer Center. 2001.
¹² “Deposits could go from a nickel to a dime,” CTPost.com. 2021.
¹³ Greenberg Quinlan. Jan 2020. Commissioned by the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters 
Connecticut statewide survey of 500 likely 2020 General Election voters in Connecticut.