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New York's Bottle Bill

Returnable Container Act (RCA)

UPDATE: In accordance with the Court Order issued on October 23, 2009, the injunction on implementation and enforcement of the amendments to the Returnable Container Act pertaining to bottled water products will expire at 11:59 p.m. October 30, 2009.
A consumer redeeming his empty beverage containers in a reverse vending machine

Starting at 12:01 a.m., Saturday, October 31, 2009, all water products sold in New York State must be labeled with a deposit of at least 5-cents. While the State of New York cannot extend the effective date of the 2009 amendments, the State recognizes the unique, practical difficulties dealers/retailers are facing and believes that a limited grace period is needed to allow dealers/retailers time to make the proper adjustments. Therefore, commencing with the lifting of the injunction at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, October 30, 2009, and ending at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, November 8, 2009, the State will refrain from commencing enforcement action against a dealer who remains in the process of complying with the new requirements. It is the State's expectation that during this grace period, the dealers will begin charging the deposit on properly labeled water bottles upon reprogramming their cash registers, but they will not be cited for selling both labeled and non-labeled product. Dealers should not charge consumers a deposit if the beverage container is not properly labeled with the New York deposit. While this is not a true extension of the deadline, it is a grace period to allow a smooth transition and to avoid confusing consumers.

IBWA, etal. v. Paterson, et al. Litigation Update

Pursuant to the Court's Order filed on September 14, 2009, the increased handling fee of 3.5 cents must be paid on all containers accepted by distributors and deposit initiators on or after August 13, 2009 - NOT June 1, 2009.

Please check back here for further updates.
E-mail specific questions to NYBOTTLE@gw.dec.state.ny.us

The Success of New York's Bottle Bill

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.


More about New York's Bottle Bill: