Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What’s the status of the legislation? The Recycling Refund and Litter Reduction Amendment Act of 2025, known as "the Bottle Bill," was introduced on January 15, 2025. The Committee on Business and Economic Development (CBED) held a hearing on the bill on October 1, 2025. Two hundred and twenty-five witnesses either testified orally or submitted written testimony in support of the bottle bill. CBED chose not to markup, or change, the bill, which has now moved to the Committee on Transportation and the Environment (COTE). COTE held an invitation-only roundtable on the bottle bill on July 9, 2026. The hearing details are available here. We expect the Council to hold three key votes on the bottle bill this fall. We need all supporters to call Council prior to each vote. Sign up for action alerts here and we'll let you know when to call. The bill can be accessed here.

  2. What can I do to help? Here is our advocacy toolkit for tips on how to contact councilmembers on the Committee on Transportation and the Environment and let them know you want them to vote YES on the bottle bill when they hold the committee markup vote. You can contact them now and again when they schedule the committee vote.  After the committee markup, the bottle bill will come up for three critical votes, the last two by all sitting councilmembers. Please sign up for action alerts so we can let you know when the votes are happening and it's time to make more calls. We will also notify you of opportunities to join us to table, flyer and post signs. Please ask your friends to sign up, too! Please also sign our petition for a DC bottle bill!

  3. How many bottles and cans wind up trashed in the District each year? Some 617 million bottles and cans are sold in the District each year. Less than 25% get recycled. The rest – 469 million bottles and cans each year – wind up being littered, landfilled or incinerated. The District spends $20 million annually to keep the District clean. We will triple the number of bottles and cans that get recycled with a bottle bill. If bottles and cans are turned in for deposit refunds and recycling, they will be kept out of our waterways, parks and neighborhoods.

  4. Has this been tried anywhere else? Does it work? Yes! Ten U.S. states have successful bottle bill programs: CA, CT, HI, IA, ME, MA, MI, NY, OR and VT. They also work in Australia, Canada, the European Union and many other countries.

  5. Did the District ever have a beverage container deposit-return program? Yes, decades ago. We’ve talked with older District residents who remember picking up discarded Coke bottles as children and returning them for the deposit money.

  6. Did beverage companies initiate beverage container deposit-return programs? Yes. Industry-created deposit-return programs were common when beverage companies sold their product in refillable glass bottles. The rise of single-use plastic in the 1960s led beverage companies to dismantle these effective programs and unleash skyrocketing litter. It’s time to bring back the District’s deposit-return program and refillable, reusable beverage containers.

  7. What can we learn from existing bottle bills and campaigns? In addition to knowing that bottle bills work, we’re also future-proofing the District bottle bill with triggers for changing the deposit and by not naming specific covered beverages. Some states that set the deposit value or named specific beverages in their legislation have had to update them to keep pace with inflation and as new products come on the market. We’ve also learned the importance of ensuring that it’s easy for District residents to return their containers to get their deposit returned quickly. 

  8. How will beverage companies respond? Beverage companies spend millions of dollars to defeat bottle bills. We expect beverage companies will likely spend money to defeat the District bottle bill, including through ads trying to scare people, and contributions to elected officials. Refer to these FAQs when the scare tactics begin! Bottle bills don’t increase prices for consumers and create more jobs than today’s curbside recycling program.

  9. How will the bottle bill fight lead pollution? Because some people won’t claim their refund, the bottle bill will establish a pool of unclaimed deposit funds that can be used to fund environmental programs, like installing lead water filters for low-income District residents whose lead service line hasn’t been replaced as well as water bottle refill stations. Today, many District residents buy water sold in plastic bottles out of concern for unsafe tap water. But plastic water bottles cause microplastics and risk leaching harmful chemicals.

  10. How will the bottle bill fight plastic pollution? By making sure plastic bottles get collected for recycling and are not left in the environment. Did you know that 337 million plastic bottles are sold in the District each year, but today only 64 million get recycled? With a bottle bill, 285 million plastic bottles will be taken out of the environment and sent for recycling. They will no longer be left in our parks, neighborhoods and waterways to degrade over 450 years. Only PET and HDPE plastic resins can be recycled. These are the only kinds of plastic collected through a bottle bill program.

  11. How will this impact the cost of beverages?  Bottle bills don’t affect retail prices. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection studied retail prices in bottle bill and non-bottle bill states, finding that beverages cost the same in the four states surveyed. They even found some higher prices in the non-bottle bill state.  Prices in chain grocery stores with regional operations were remarkably consistent.

  12. Won’t a bottle bill reduce sales of beverages? No. Another study found no impact on beverage sales by enacting a bottle bill. That’s because beverage companies use a range of factors to set prices and are highly sensitive to competitors’ prices.

  13. How do people get money back from a reverse vending machine? The RVM will print a ticket for your deposit return which you can bring into the store either for a cash refund or to use as a credit if you’re making a purchase.  Watch this video to learn more

  14. How do people get money back at a redemption center? Redemption centers will issue a cash refund or immediately credit the refund to your bottle bill account. We’re advocating for deposit returns to be set up to be directed to a child’s college education fund or a charitable organizations.

  15. Why aren’t big corporations paying for the bottle bill program? They are! The bottle bill is a convenient recycling system for beverage containers that requires no funding from the District or its residents. Beverage companies will pay a handling fee for bottles and cans to be collected and recycled based on how many beverages they sell. So big companies, whose bottles and cans are polluting the District, pay more to fund the program. That’s why they oppose bottle bills. Beverage companies prefer that District residents bear the brunt of dealing with used beverage containers, including living with polluted parks, waterways and neighborhoods. Learn more about the funding sources for the bottle bill program, including revenue to offset its costs, and how deposit money flows here.

  16. How will DC’s bottle bill drive fundraising efforts? Civic and faith-based organizations can organize bottle drives where supporters deliver their containers to the organization which returns them to collect the deposit refund. Bag drop programs in other bottle bill states set up user accounts. Civic and faith-based organizations can ask supporters to direct their deposit refunds to their account. Oregon has linked college education savings accounts with bottle refund accounts. 

  17. Where can I read more about bottle bills? Click here are some helpful links:

  18. Who is Oakley Otter? Oakley is our campaign mascot. Learn more here.