On April 1, the new Oregon Bottle Bill went into effect. House Bill 2746 was signed by Governor Kate
Brown during the 2017 regular session of the Oregon State Legislature.
The bill increases bottle deposit refunds from 5 cents to 10 cents. In accordance with Oregon Law, the
Oregon Liquor Control Commission was required to evaluate state-wide redemption data for each of the
two previous calendar years to determine if the number of beverage containers returned for the refund
value was less than 80% of the total number of beverage containers that were sold in Oregon. Because
the redemption rates for 2014 and 2015 were below 80%, ORS 459A.705 requires the refund value to
increase to 10 cents.
The change allows a grace period for containers labeled with OR 10¢ to be phased onto store shelves
through September 30, 2018. The refund value will be 10¢ regardless of the amount shown on the
container. Currently, beverages included are water, beer, and soft drinks. Only containers for these
beverages in sizes of three liters or less are included and have a refund value.
Hard cider, juice, tea, coffee, coconut water, non-alcoholic kombucha are not currently covered under
the Oregon Bottle Bill, but will be effective January 1, 2018 and will be limited to container sizes of 4
ounces to 1.5 liters. However, if a business charges the deposit on one of these items, that business
must redeem the container. Containers of alcoholic kombucha (0.5% or more alcohol by volume) are
included in Oregon’s Bottle Bill if the alcohol is derived from the fermentation of sugar or another
appropriate substitute for malt.
By: Oren Cytrynbaum