Redemption rates for beverage containers, including plastic bottles, in most deposit states continued on a years-long decline in 2023, according to new statistics from the Container Recycling Institute.
The Culver City, Calif.-based nonprofit group said statistics only show increases for Oregon, which improved by 1 percent, and Vermont, which increased by 0.2 percent, which was rounded up to 1 percent.
California, Connecticut and Maine all posted 1 percent decreases from 2022 to 2023, and Massachusetts and New York fell by 2 percent. Michigan fell by 3 percent, and Hawaii decreased by 4 percent, CRI reported.
Taken alone, the year-over-year decreases might not seem like much, CRI CEO Susan Collins said. But they are part of a multiyear trend that's eaten into deposit rates over time.
"These trends point to the need for more deposit return system modernizations, such as higher container deposit amounts, coverage of more beverage types and additional convenient options for consumers to return bottles and cans," Collins said in a statement.
"We've seen some progress on this front in recent years — particularly with several program upgrades in Oregon and Connecticut's 2021 passage of major expansion legislation — but not enough," she said.
CRI released new data on the nine states that had 2023 information available. Numbers for Iowa in 2023 were not included in the latest study, but CRI indicated the redemption rate in that state has dropped 18 percentage points — from 67 percent to 48 percent — between 2016 and 2022.
The redemption rates are for plastic, metal and glass collectively. CRI also released some individual recycling numbers for plastics in certain states.
California has posted a redemption rate of 61 percent for PET in both 2013 and 2023, but the number actually reached a high of 78 percent in 2015 before declining to a low of 56 percent in 2021 and then rebounding over the next two years.
High density polyethylene also held steady over the decade — 35 percent in 2013 and 36 percent in 2023 in California. The HDPE number also fluctuated to a high of 70 percent in 2015 and bottomed out at 32 percent for both 2021 and 2022.
Hawaii, meanwhile, reports plastics in one category that posted an 84 percent redemption rate in 2023, up from 58 percent in 2013.
CRI has limited numbers for Maine but reports a 72 percent redemption rate for plastic containers in 2023.
Despite the decreases, Collins said deposit systems do work, but they now need additional attention.
"The bottom line is that we require modernization of several state beverage container deposit return systems and establishment of new programs in non-deposit states or — ideally — passage of a well-designed national law so manufacturers and suppliers have access to enough recycled content moving forward," she said in her statement.
"Upgraded and new programs also would bring the significant environmental and economic benefits we know deposit systems provide," she said.