California has expanded its recycling refund program to include glass wine and liquor bottles, large plastic juice bottles, and even boxed wine containers and alcoholic beverage pouches.
You're used to getting a nickel for most aluminum cans, and plastic and glass bottles, but the new year will bring new opportunities for more cash redemptions.
Here's what the payouts will look like:
5¢
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- Most glass bottles (now including wine and liquor bottles), plastic bottles, aluminum cans and bimetal containers smaller than 24 ounces
10¢
- Most glass bottles (now including wine and liquor bottles), and aluminum and bi-metal cans 24 ounces and larger.
- Plastic fruit juice bottles larger than 46 ounces ( juice bottles smaller than 46 ounces were already part of the program.
25¢
- In-tact bag-in-box containers (Think your favorite boxed wine)
- Plastic pouches and multi-layer pouches (Alcoholic beverages only, no Caprisuns or Kool-Aid Jammers pouches)
- Paperback cartons for alcoholic beverages (no milk cartons or juice boxes)
These refunds only apply to containers purchased in California. Containers eligible for refunds after Jan. 1, 2024, don't need to have CRV labels until July 1, 2025, according to CalRecycle.
Scroll down on this page for more examples of eligible and non-eligible containers.
CalRecycle anticipates bringing in 1 billion wine and spirit bottles after they're added to the CRV program.
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"One of the great things about glass is it's 100% infinitely recyclable," Nigel Dart, vice president of Gallo Glass, told CalRecycle. "About 35% of the incoming material is recycled glass. We'd like to increase that to 75%"
Starting in 2022, Assembly Bill 793 required beverages sold by manufacturers to be in containers made of 15% recycled material. The standard will increase to 25% in 2025 and 50% in 2030.
