Beverage containers.

The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, which is administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, is established to promote beverage container recycling, and provides for the payment, collection, and distribution of certain payments and fees based on minimum refund values established for beverage containers. The act requires the department to annually designate convenience zones statewide and requires at least one certified recycling center or location within every convenience zone, as defined, that accepts all types of empty beverage containers and pays the refund value, if any, at one location. The act requires dealers within a convenience zone where no recycling location has been established, or within a convenience zone that is unserved for 60 days and not exempt from convenience zone requirements, to alternatively (1) submit an affidavit to the department stating that the dealer has met specified standards for empty beverage container redemption or (2) pay $100 per day to the department, for deposit into the continuously appropriated California Beverage Container Recycling Fund, until a recycling location is established or until the dealer meets the standards for redemption specified in the affidavit provisions. This bill would require the department to conduct a study inquiring whether the $100 per day payment to the department provides inducement for dealers to meet the standards for redemption. The bill would require the department to submit to the Legislature a report regarding the study by July 1, 2023.