Finally, the bills exclude any product not sold in an aluminum, glass, plastic, or bimetal container. These new containers were added into the law in October. The law went into effect January 1st of this year. The problem is that the new law was muddled and those few months was not enough time to inform consumers, retailers, manufacturers and recyclers about the changes. That has lead to extreme confusion right now.
Retailers have to label their shelves to indicate the new containers are recyclable.
However, manufacturers do not have to label the actual containers until January 1, 2001. So, consumers pay the deposit, but when they do not see the recycling logo on the container, they may not attempt to recycle it. If they do attempt to recycle it, they are likely to be met with recycling center employees who do not know that there are containers covered by the law but not labeled as such. I have been getting phone calls from people confused by this, and I cannot blame them for not understanding the situation. Our recycling law has created as many problems as it has solved.