I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2980
To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require a refund value for certain
beverage containers, to provide resources for State pollution prevention
and recycling programs, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 9, 1997
Mr. ALLEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require a refund
value for certain beverage containers, to provide re-
sources for State pollution prevention and recycling pro-
grams, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Beverage
Container Recycling Initiative Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The failure to reuse and recycle empty bev-
erage containers represents a significant and unnec-
essary waste of important national energy and mate-
rial resources.
(2) The littering of empty beverage containers
constitutes a public nuisance, safety hazard, and
aesthetic blight and imposes on public agencies, pri-
vate businesses, farmers, and landowners unneces-
sary costs for the collection and removal of the con-
tainers.
(3) Solid waste resulting from the empty bev-
erage containers constitutes a significant proportion
of municipal solid waste and increases the cost and
problems of effectively managing the disposal of the
waste.
(4) It is difficult for local communities to raise
the necessary capital to initiate comprehensive recy-
cling programs.
(5) The reuse and recycling of empty beverage
containers would help eliminate unnecessary burdens
on individuals, local governments, and the environ-
ment.
(6) Several States have previously enacted and
implemented State laws designed to protect the envi-
ronment, conserve energy and material resources,
and promote resource recovery of waste by requiring
a refund value on the sale of all beverage containers.
(7) The laws referred to in paragraph (6) have
proven inexpensive for government to administer and
effective at reducing financial burdens on commu-
nities by internalizing the cost of recycling and litter
control to the producers and consumers of bev-
erages.
(8) A national system for requiring a refund
value on the sale of all beverage containers would
act as a positive incentive to individuals to clean up
the environment and would—
(A) result in a high level of reuse and recy-
cling of the containers; and
(B) help reduce the costs associated with
solid waste management.
(9) A national system for requiring a refund
value on the sale of all beverage containers would re-
sult in significant energy conservation and resource
recovery.
(10) The reuse and recycling of empty beverage
containers would eliminate unnecessary waste man-
agement burdens on the Federal Government, State
and local governments, and the environment.
(11) The collection of unclaimed refunds from
a national system of beverage container recycling
would provide the resources necessary to assist com-
prehensive reuse and recycling programs throughout
the United States.
(12) A national system of beverage container
recycling is consistent with the intent of the Solid
Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.).
(13) This Act is consistent with the goals estab-
lished by the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency during June 1996 that include a
national goal of 35 percent source reduction and re-
cycling by 2005, coupled with a reduction in per
capita waste generation.
SEC. 3. BEVERAGE CONTAINER RECYCLING.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Solid Waste Disposal Act (42
U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
‘‘Subtitle K—Beverage Container
Recycling
‘‘SEC. 12001. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘In this subtitle:
‘‘(1) BEVERAGE.—The term ‘beverage’ means
beer, ale, or other drink produced by fermenting
malt, spirits, wine, wine coolers, soda or noncarbon-
ated water, and all nonalcoholic carbonated or non-
carbonated drinks in liquid form and intended for
human consumption except for milk and dairy-de-
rived products.
‘‘(2) BEVERAGE CONTAINER.—The term ‘bev-
erage container’ means a bottle, can, jar, or other
container made of glass, metal, or plastic which has
been sealed by a manufacturer and which, at the
time of sale, contains 4 liters or less of a beverage.
‘‘(3) BEVERAGE DISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘bev-
erage distributor’ means a person who sells or offers
for sale in interstate commerce to beverage retailers
beverages in beverage containers for resale.
‘‘(4) BEVERAGE RETAILER.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘beverage
retailer’ means a person who—
‘‘(i) purchases from a beverage dis-
tributor beverages in beverage containers
for sale to a consumer; or
‘‘(ii) sells or offers to sell in commerce
beverages in beverage containers to a
consumer.
‘‘(B) BEVERAGE
VENDING
MACHINES.—
The Administrator shall promulgate regulations
that define ‘beverage retailer’ for any case in
which a beverage in a beverage container is sold
to a consumer through a beverage vending ma-
chine.
‘‘(5) CONSUMER.—The term ‘consumer’ means
a person who purchases a beverage container for any
use other than resale.
‘‘(6) REFUND VALUE.—The term ‘refund value’
means the amount specified as the refund value of
a beverage container under section 12002.
‘‘(7) UNBROKEN BEVERAGE CONTAINER.—The
term ‘unbroken beverage container’ includes—
‘‘(A) a beverage container opened in a
manner in which the container was designed to
be opened; and
‘‘(B) a beverage container made of metal
or plastic that is compressed if the statement of
the amount of the refund value of the container
is still readable.
‘‘(8) WINE
COOLER.—The term ‘wine cooler’
means a drink containing less than 8 percent alcohol
(by volume)—
‘‘(A) consisting of wine and plain, spar-
kling, or carbonated water; and
‘‘(B) containing a non-alcoholic beverage,
flavoring, coloring material, fruit juice, fruit ad-
junct, sugar, carbon dioxide, preservatives, or
any other natural or artificial blending mate-
rials (or any combination thereof).
‘‘(9) SPIRITS.—The term ‘spirits’ means any
liquor produced by distillation or, if produced by any
other process, strengthened or fortified by the addi-
tion of distilled spirits of any kind. The term in-
cludes fortified wine.
‘‘(10) WINE.—The term ‘wine’ means any liq-
uor containing not more than 15.5 percent alcohol
by volume which is produced by the fermentation of
fruit or other agricultural products containing sugar
and to which no spirits are added. The term includes
table wine, still wine, sparkling wine, and cham-
pagne, if the alcohol content is not above 15.5 per-
cent by volume.
‘‘SEC. 12002. REQUIRED BEVERAGE CONTAINER LABELING.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in section
12007, no beverage distributor or beverage retailer may
sell or offer for sale in interstate commerce a beverage
in a beverage container unless—
‘‘(1) in the case of wine and spirit containers,
there is clearly, prominently, and securely affixed to,
or printed on, the container a statement of the re-
fund value of the container in the amount of 15
cents (as adjusted under subsection (c)); and
‘‘(2) in the case of all other containers, there is
clearly, prominently, and securely affixed to, or
printed on, the container a statement of the refund
value of the container in the amount of 5 cents (as
adjusted under subsection (c)).
‘‘(b) SIZE AND LOCATION OF STATEMENT.—The Ad-
ministrator shall promulgate regulations establishing uni-
form standards for the size and location of the refund
value statement on beverage containers.
‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENTS OF REFUND VALUE.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator shall
adjust the amount of the refund value of the con-
tainer under subsection (a)—
‘‘(A) on the date that is 10 years after the
date of enactment of this subtitle, to reflect
changes in the Consumer Price Index for all-
urban consumers published by the Department
of Labor since the date of enactment of this
subtitle; and
‘‘(B) on the date that is 10 years after the
initial adjustment made under paragraph (1),
and each 10 years thereafter, to reflect changes
in the Consumer Price Index for all-urban con-
sumers published by the Department of Labor
since the most recent adjustment.
‘‘(2) 
ROUNDING.—The 
Administrator 
shall
round any adjustment under paragraph (1) to the
nearest 5 cent increment.
‘‘SEC. 12003. COLLECTION OF REFUND VALUE.
‘‘(a) COLLECTION FROM RETAILERS BY DISTRIBU-
TORS.—In the case of each beverage in a beverage con-
tainer sold in interstate commerce to a beverage retailer
by a beverage distributor, the distributor shall collect from
the retailer or redemption center the amount of the refund
value shown on the container.
‘‘(b) COLLECTION FROM CONSUMERS BY RETAIL-
ERS.—In the case of each beverage in a beverage container
sold in interstate commerce to a consumer by a beverage
retailer, the retailer shall collect from the consumer the
amount of the refund value shown on the container.
‘‘(c) OTHER COLLECTIONS.—No person other than
a person described in subsection (a) or (b) may collect a
deposit on a beverage container.
‘‘SEC. 12004. RETURN OF REFUND VALUE.
‘‘(a) PAYMENT BY RETAILER.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a person, other than a
beverage distributor or beverage retailer, tenders for
refund an empty, unbroken, and reasonably clean