Wine Country Times

Assembly bill 1311, also known as the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, which was created by State Assemblymember Jim Wood and co-authorized by Sen. Mike McGuire, has recently been passed. 

AB 1311, which was passed in a 10-0 vote on Feb. 19 and last amended on April 7, will provide California's Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery with greater flexibility in order to adjust operating hours for recycling centers and also allow appointment-based recycling opportunities.

"I'm currently presenting #AB1311 in Nat Res Comm. Rural areas are losing recycling redemption centers. My district is rural and this is a crisis there,” Wood wrote in a tweet. “This bill provides much needed flexibility to tailor recycling centers so they can remain open." 

The new legislation will increase access to convenient recycling redemption opportunities. 

The bill will also provide changes sought by other organizations in order to provide retailers with the ability to redeem consumer beverage containers at the store site rather than in the store, which is currently required by law.

According to Calmatters.org, over $120 million in unredeemed beverage container redemption deposits have amassed in California’s state account over the past 14 months. 

The act will also specify that a certified recycling center that is not a reverse vending machine, as defined, is “open for business” if specified criteria are met. This includes that an employee of the certified recycling center is present and available to the public to accept containers and to pay the refund values during hours of operation. 

The act also provides that a recycling center that is a reverse vending machine that accepts all types of empty beverage containers is open for business if it provides an attendant to accept all types of empty beverage containers for no less than 10 hours per week, as provided.