New York's Bottle Bill
Returnable Container Act (RCA)
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the implementation and enforcement of the New York-exclusive Universal Product Code provision of the New York State Returnable Container Act (the "Bottle Bill") as amended, N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law 27-1012(12); and "any and all other amendments to the Bottle Bill signed into law on April 7, 2009, until April 1, 2010, to allow persons subject to the amendments sufficient time to comply with the law's requirements."
This preliminary injunction will remain in effect during the pendency of this action (International Bottled Water Association, et al., v. Paterson, et al., 09-CV-04672-DAB) and until final judgment is entered.
The New York State Returnable Container Act, also known as the "Bottle Bill", has been a tremendous success. Over the last 26 years it has achieved significant impacts to create a cleaner and healthier New York. The Bottle Bill has:
- reduced roadside litter by 70 percent;
- recycled 90 billion containers, equal to 6 million tons of materials, at no cost to local governments;
- saved more than 52 million barrels of oil; and
- eliminated 200,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases each year.
When the Bottle Bill was passed in 1982 non-carbonated drinks like iced teas, sport drinks and bottled water made up a small fraction of the beverage market. Today, non-carbonated water makes up more than 23 percent of the market.
Please check back here for further updates.
Please e-mail specific questions to NYBOTTLE@gw.dec.state.ny.us.
More about New York's Bottle Bill:
- How Does it Work? - How the New York State Returnable Container Act works.
- Get Your Money Back - Information on the RCA and getting your deposit back.
- Third-Party Systems and Related Companies - A list of third-party systems and related companies for the Bottle Bill
- Water Bottle Fact Sheet - Too Many Bottles-It's a Waste
