Bottle Deposit Program

Every year, billions of bottles and cans are used around the world. Most of them end up in recycling bins. But in some places, they are taken to“redemption centres”. These are places with bottle deposit programmes. When people buy a drink, they pay a small deposit—usually five or ten cents.They get that money back when they return the container.

Washington is the only West Coast U.S. state without a bottle deposit programme. But for years, it has been considering passing a“bottle bill(法案)”to start one. By doing so, the state aims not just to cut down on landfill waste but to go a step further. The people who collect these bottles are often jobless or have very low incomes. They depend on this“extra cash” to get by. Once this bill is passed into law, those in need will be able to get more money for the bottles they return.

Bottle bills might seem small, but they are an important piece of the larger recycling puzzle.Among the ten U.S. states with active bottle bills, nine have the highest recycling rates in the country. In California, for example, 18.6 billion drink containers were recycled in 2021. That was 68 per cent of all bottles sold.

Governments keep count of how many bottles and cans are recycled every year.

But there isn't much information on the people doing the collecting. Only one study on this subject was conducted in California in 2011. The study found that less than half of the bottles were returned by customers. For those who collect the bottles, this can mean an extra $2,800 a year. It can help them make a living or, in some cases, even help them return to work. Take Kristopher Brown, a man in Oregon, for example. For two years, he was jobless and relied on bottle refunds. Now, at the age of 37, he is a manager at a bottle collection site.“Once you lose everything, it's hard to get back on your feet,”Brown said.“I want to create jobs. We need more low-barrier (低门槛的) jobs.”