Wine and liquor bottles might soon have deposits. A great amount comes from Modesto
California would add wine and liquor bottles to its deposit program under a bill moving through the Legislature.
Consumers would get a dime at recycling centers for a typical bottle from wineries in Modesto and beyond.
The authors hope to boost the current 30% recycling rate for the 500 million or so wine and spirits bottles produced in the state each year.
The Senate approved the measure, SB 1013, on a unanimous vote Wednesday, May 25. It now goes to the Assembly and ultimately Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The deposit program dates to 1986 and pays 5 cents for most beverage containers made of glass, plastic or aluminum. It applies to soda, beer, water and juice, as well as “coolers” that combine wine or spirits with other ingredients.
The bill got support from the wine and spirits industries, along with environmental and labor groups. No one has formally opposed it.
E.&J. Gallo Winery of Modesto is the largest wine producer in the world and has also become a major player in spirits. And it uses a huge volume of recycled material at the glass plant off Yosemite Boulevard.
A Gallo spokesperson declined to comment on the bill.
Most bottles would be 10 cents
The deposit would be 10 cents on 750-milliliter wine bottles, the most common size, and on larger bottles and jugs. It would be 5 cents on 375-milliliter bottles.
The new deposits would start Jan. 1, 2023. Producers would have another year to start imprinting “CA redemption value” on the labels, as required under current law.
Beverage distributors pay the deposit money into a state fund that in turn pays the recycling centers taking part in the program.
Nine other states have deposit laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Four of them — Iowa, New York, Vermont and Maine — include wine, spirits or both.
Landfills and climate
The bill was authored by Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, and Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins, D-San Diego. They said it would conserve energy and aid the fight against climate change.
“With SB 1013, we can increase the recycling rates of millions of bottles that would otherwise wind up in our landfills or be illegally discarded,” Dodd said in a news release.
Atkins said in the release that “hopefully, 2022 will be the year we can pop a cork and celebrate this overdue improvement to California’s recycling law.”
This story was originally published May 30, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
