The House passes improvements to the Bottle Bill System

The current bottle deposit and redemption system has become outdated. The lack of convenient redemption centers dominates the conversation. Parties on all sides of the issue ignore the law without consequence. Significant work was done last year to make changes to the system. That work continued this year and this week the House passed a bottle bill reform measure creating a bottle deposit and redemption system for today’s consumers.

Senate File 2378 takes many positive steps towards improving the current system. It increases the handling fee for redemption centers and retailers to three cents per container. It also gives retailers the ability to opt out of redeeming empty containers if they meet one of the following criteria:

• The retailer has a food establishment license and has a certified food protection manager on site.

• The retailer has an agreement with a mobile redemption system

• The retailer is within the radius of a redemption center based on the convenience standard for their county.

The House also worked to ensure consumer protections were included in the bill. These include …

• Ensuring the convenience standard (required radius for redemption center based on a county’s population) remains the law

• Encouraging additional redemption centers and retailers to take back empty containers by increasing the handling fee to three cents per container

• Added enforcement mechanisms to ensure the law is enforced.

Senate File 2378 as amended, also enhances enforcement by strengthening fines and enabling the DNR and attorney general to work together to ensure all stakeholders — retailers, distributors, redemption centers, and recyclers — follow the law. Finally, it establishes a legislative review committee that will meet ahead of the 2026 legislative session to review the effectiveness of the law and report its findings and recommendations.

It’s been 40 years since the bottle deposit and redemption system has been updated. These are positive changes for all Iowans that ensure consumers can conveniently redeem their empty containers for $.05 and help keep Iowa beautiful and clean.

Let’s keep the conversation going.