Michigan is among ten states in the country that have some kind of bottle deposit.

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The other nine states are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Vermont.

Why Do We Have Bottle Deposits In Michigan?

The first state to have a bottle deposit was Vermont in 1953.

This bottle bill prohibited the sale of beer in non-refillable bottles.

Then, In 1971 Oregon became the first state to pass a bill that required all beer and soft drink containers to have refundable deposits as a litter-control measure.

Five years later in 1976, Michigan voters approved the Michigan Bottle Deposit Law (or Bottle Bill) and it went into effect.

A  ¢10 deposit was added to soft drinks, soda water, carbonated natural or mineral water or other non-alcoholic carbonated drink, beer, ale or other malt drink of whatever alcoholic content.

The reasoning behind a bottle bill is to encourage people to recycle their cans and bottles along with reducing litter.

Should Michigan Get Rid Of Bottle Deposit?

Recently information showed that people in Michigan redeemed 70.4% of their 10-cent deposits on beer and pop in 2024, the lowest redemption rate in more than 30 years.

70.4% seems really high until you look back to before 2010 when that number was at it's highest at just above 90%.

With the numbers going down for the past 15 years I think it's time we get rid of bottle deposit in Michigan.

The reason I want Michigan to get rid of bottle deposit is that I hate paying the money.

Sure it is only an extra $1.20 per 12 pack, but I also have to waste my time and my gas to drive back to Meijer to return the bottles.

When I married my wife almost 10 years ago she made me recycle everything, I didn't like it at first but after learning what can be recycled and what could not I was blown away by how much stuff I was sending to the landfill when it could have been recycled.

To me charging a bottle deposit isn't fair to people who already do the right thing and recycle.

I wish Michigan could find a way to improve the messaging for recycling and get more people to get on board.

I'd love to hear what you think, send me a message.

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