Original Recycling Bottle Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3281 To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require recycling of beverage containers, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 12, 2020 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require recycling of beverage containers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Original Recycling 4 Bottle Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. BEVERAGE CONTAINER COLLECTION. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 7 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 8 the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:29 Feb 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3281.IS S3281 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3281 IS ‘‘Subtitle K—Beverage Container 1 Collection 2 ‘‘SEC. 12001. DEFINITIONS. 3 ‘‘In this subtitle: 4 ‘‘(1) AREA.—When used in the context of space 5 occupied by a retailer, the term ‘area’ means— 6 ‘‘(A) the number of square feet of the 7 building or portion of the building leased or 8 owned by the retailer; and 9 ‘‘(B) only includes retail space if— 10 ‘‘(i) the retail space is less than 5,000 11 square feet; 12 ‘‘(ii) the retail space occupies less 13 than 50 percent of the leased or owned 14 space where retail operations are located; 15 and 16 ‘‘(iii) the nonretail space is used in 17 whole or in part for the manufacturing of 18 beverages. 19 ‘‘(2) BEVERAGE CONTAINER.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘beverage 21 container’ means an individual, separate, and 22 sealed glass, metal, or plastic bottle or can 23 (other than a carton, foil pouch, drink box, or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:29 Feb 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3281.IS S3281 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3281 IS metal container that requires a tool to be 1 opened) that— 2 ‘‘(i) contains a beverage that is in- 3 tended for human consumption and in a 4 quantity less than or equal to 3 fluid liters 5 that is— 6 ‘‘(I) water or flavored water; 7 ‘‘(II) beer or other malt bev- 8 erages; 9 ‘‘(III) mineral water, soda water, 10 or similar carbonated soft drinks; 11 ‘‘(IV) kombucha; or 12 ‘‘(V) hard seltzer; and 13 ‘‘(ii) does not contain— 14 ‘‘(I) dairy milk or plant-based 15 milk; 16 ‘‘(II) infant formula; or 17 ‘‘(III) any other beverage that is 18 exempted by a rule of the Adminis- 19 trator. 20 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘beverage 21 container’ does not include a container that 22 contains infant formula intended solely for in- 23 fant feeding. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:29 Feb 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3281.IS S3281 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3281 IS ‘‘(3) CATEGORY OF BEVERAGE.—The term ‘cat- 1 egory of beverage’ means one of the following cat- 2 egories of beverage in a beverage container: 3 ‘‘(A) Water. 4 ‘‘(B) Carbonated soft drinks. 5 ‘‘(C) All other non-alcoholic beverages (ex- 6 cluding dairy milk and plant-based milk, infant 7 formula, and liquid meal replacements). 8 ‘‘(D) Alcoholic beverages. 9 ‘‘(E) Beverages containing marijuana or 10 hemp. 11 ‘‘(4) DAIRY MILK.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘dairy milk’ 13 means a beverage that consists of only dairy 14 milk, flavorings, or nutritional additives. 15 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘dairy milk’ 16 includes flavored milk beverages, such as choco- 17 late milk and lactose free milk. 18 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘dairy milk’ 19 does not include kefir, drinkable yogurt, butter- 20 milk, smoothies, shakes, a beverage that is pri- 21 marily milk but includes other ingredients such 22 as fruit, or a beverage that is primarily milk 23 but is marketed as a beverage other than milk, 24 such as a smoothie or shake. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:29 Feb 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3281.IS S3281 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3281 IS ‘‘(5) DISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘distributor’ 1 means a person who engages in the sale of beverages 2 in beverage containers to a retailer, including any 3 manufacturer who engages in those sales. 4 ‘‘(6) CONVENIENCE ZONE.—The term ‘conven- 5 ience zone’ means a convenience zone specified by 6 the Administrator under section 12002(e)(1)(A). 7 ‘‘(7) HARD SELTZER.—The term ‘hard seltzer’ 8 means a sugar-based alcoholic beverage that con- 9 tains carbonated water or any malt-based alcoholic 10 beverage that contains carbonated water and is not 11 a malt beverage. 12 ‘‘(8) IMPORTER.—The term ‘importer’ means 13 any retailer or manufacturer who directly imports 14 into the United States beverage containers. 15 ‘‘(9) KOMBUCHA.—The term ‘kombucha’ means 16 a fermented beverage that is made from tea and 17 does not contain more than 21 percent alcohol by 18 volume. 19 ‘‘(10) LIQUID MEAL REPLACEMENT.—The term 20 ‘liquid meal replacement’ means a ready-to-drink liq- 21 uid with caloric and nutritional value intended to re- 22 place a regular meal. 23 ‘‘(11) MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘manufac- 24 turer’ means a person bottling, canning, or otherwise 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:29 Feb 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3281.IS S3281 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3281 IS filling beverage containers for sale to distributors, 1 importers, or retailers. 2 ‘‘(12) PLANT-BASED MILK.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘plant-based 4 milk’ means a beverage consisting primarily of 5 liquid extracted from nuts, grains, legumes, or 6 seeds and flavorings or nutritional additives. 7 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘plant-based 8 milk’ does not include kefir, drinkable yogurt, 9 smoothies, shakes, coconut water, a beverage 10 that is primarily plant-based milk but includes 11 other ingredients such as fruit, or a beverage 12 that is primarily plant-based milk but is mar- 13 keted as a beverage other than a plant-based 14 milk, such as a smoothie or shake. 15 ‘‘(13) RECOVERY RATE.—The term ‘recovery 16 rate’ means the quantity of beverage containers col- 17 lected divided by the quantity of beverage containers 18 produced, expressed as a percentage. 19 ‘‘(14) REDEMPTION CENTER.—The term ‘re- 20 demption center’ means a redemption center de- 21 scribed in section 12002(d). 22 ‘‘(15) RETAILER.—The term ‘retailer’ means a 23 person that sells or offers for sale beverages in bev- 24 erage containers to a consumer. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:29 Feb 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3281.IS S3281 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3281 IS ‘‘(16) RETURN RATE.—The term ‘return rate’ 1 means the number of beverage containers returned 2 for the refund value in accordance with section 3 12003(e) during a calendar year and the number of 4 beverage containers that carry a refund value sold 5 during that calendar year, calculated separately. 6 ‘‘(17) WINE.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘wine’ 8 means a fermented vinous liquor or fruit juice, 9 or other fermented beverage fit for beverage 10 purposes that is not a malt beverage, containing 11 more than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume and 12 not more than 21 percent alcohol by volume. 13 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘wine’ in- 14 cludes fortified wine, cider more than 8.5 per- 15 cent alcohol by volume, and mead. 16 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘wine’ does 17 not include cider that is not more than 8.5 per- 18 cent alcohol by volume, hard seltzer, or 19 kombucha. 20 ‘‘SEC. 12002. BEVERAGE CONTAINER RECOVERY PRO- 21 GRAMS. 22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), not 23 later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this sub- 24 title— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:29 Feb 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3281.IS S3281 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3281 IS ‘‘(1) every beverage container sold or offered 1 for sale by a retailer shall clearly indicate by em- 2 bossing, a stamp, a label, or other method securely 3 affixed to the beverage container, the refund value 4 of the container; 5 ‘‘(2) each retailer shall pay distributors the re- 6 fund value for each beverage container delivered; 7 ‘‘(3) on the sale of each beverage container by 8 a retailer, the retailer may collect a refund value in 9 accordance with section 12003(e); 10 ‘‘(4) on return of the beverage container to a 11 retailer or a redemption center by a person, the re- 12 tailer or redemption center, as applicable, shall 13 repay a refund value to the person; 14 ‘‘(5) retailers that are participating in a re- 15 demption center in accordance with subsection (d) 16 shall collectively pay not less than 50 percent of the 17 cost of operating the redemption center, which 18 amount shall be apportioned among the retailers 19 based on the total volume of beverage containers 20 sold by each retailer; 21 ‘‘(6) a distributor that is a member of a dis- 22 tributor cooperative under subsection (c) shall re- 23 trieve containers from retailers or redemption cen- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:29 Feb 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3281.IS S3281 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3281 IS ters and pay refunds through the distributor cooper- 1 ative in accordance with that subsection; 2 ‘‘(7) a distributor that is not a member of a 3 distributor cooperative under subsection (c) shall— 4 ‘‘(A) in a timely manner and consistent 5 with commercial best practices, collect beverage 6 containers that— 7 ‘‘(i) the distributor distributes to a re- 8 tailer; and 9 ‘‘(ii) the retailer or an applicable re- 10 demption center has collected from con- 11 sumers; and 12 ‘‘(B) on receipt of each beverage container 13 under subparagraph (A), pay the retailer or the 14 redemption center, as applicable, the refund 15 value; and 16 ‘‘(8) by June 1 of each calendar year, a dis- 17 tributor or importer shall provide to the Adminis- 18 trator a report that lists the beverage container re- 19 turn data for the previous calendar year of the dis- 20 tributor or importer, calculated separately for glass, 21 metal, and plastic beverage containers. 22 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR STATES WITH EXISTING PRO- 23 GRAMS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:29 Feb 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3281.IS S3281 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3281 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State that has in effect 1 a beverage container recovery program the require- 2 ments of which are substantially similar to, or more 3 stringent than, the requirements of this section may 4 submit to the Administrator a request to waive the 5 applicability of this section in that State. 6 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—The Administrator may 7 approve a waiver under paragraph (1) if the State 8 demonstrates that the beverage container recovery 9 rate for the program in that State is more than 75 10 percent. 11 ‘‘(c) DISTRIBUTOR COOPERATIVES.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may ap- 13 prove the formation of a distributor cooperative by 14 2 or more distributors or importers for the purposes 15 of— 16 ‘‘(A) collecting the refund value of bev- 17 erage containers specified from distributors or 18 importers and refunding to retailers the amount 19 the retailers paid for the refund value of empty 20 beverage containers; 21 ‘‘(B) paying the refund value for beverage 22 containers redeemed; and 23 ‘‘(C) processing beverage containers. 24 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:29 Feb 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3281.IS S3281 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3281 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Applications to be- 1 come a distributor cooperative described in 2 paragraph (1) shall be submitted to the Admin- 3 istrator. 4 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—An application under 5 subparagraph (A) shall include— 6 ‘‘(i) evidence of consultation with 7 stakeholders prior to submitting the appli- 8 cation for approval; 9 ‘‘(ii) assurances that— 10 ‘‘(I) the distributor cooperative 11 will provide an opportunity for stake- 12 holder input in the implementation 13 and operation of the activities de- 14 scribed in paragraph (1); 15 ‘‘(II) distributors will pay the 16 costs of collecting and managing bev- 17 erage containers; 18 ‘‘(III) reasonable and free con- 19 sumer access to collection facilities or 20 collection services will be provided; 21 ‘‘(IV) the distributer cooperative 22 will make consumers aware of— 23 ‘‘(aa) the activities described 24 in paragraph (1); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:29 Feb 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3281.IS S3281 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3281 IS ‘‘(bb) the location of collec- 1 tion facilities or the availability 2 of collection services; and 3 ‘‘(cc) how to manage bev- 4 erage containers in a safe man- 5 ner; 6 ‘‘(V) the distributor cooperative 7 will have the ability to track the re- 8 turn rate, the management of costs 9 incurred by the program, and the 10 management of environmental impacts 11 of the program; and 12 ‘‘(VI) the distributor cooperative 13 will have a dispute resolution proce- 14 dure for disputes that arise during 15 implementation of the activities under 16 paragraph (1); and 17 ‘‘(iii) such other information as the 18 Administrator may require. 19 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In deciding whether to 20 approve an application under paragraph (2), the Ad- 21 ministrator may consider any of the following: 22 ‘‘(A) The population and geographical area 23 of the markets in which the distributor coopera- 24 tive operates. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:29 Feb 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3281.IS S3281 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 3281 IS ‘‘(B) The quantity of beverage containers 1 that distributors expect will be used in a com- 2 mercial enterprise, sold, offered for sale, or dis- 3 tributed each year. 4 ‘‘(C) The quantity of beverage containers 5 that the distributor cooperative expects to col- 6 lect each year. 7 ‘‘(D) The size of the population intended 8 to be served by collection facilities or collection 9 services of the distributor cooperative. 10 ‘‘(E) The provision of convenient options 11 for the collection of beverage containers in 12 urban centers and small, isolated communities, 13 and for persons with disabilities or who have no 14 access to transportation. 15 ‘‘(F) The manner, kind, and quantity of 16 advertising and consumer education planned by 17 the distributor to inform consumers of— 18 ‘‘(i) the location and operation of col- 19 lection fac [Text truncated for display. 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