![[OC] Bottles and cans with a deposit are recycled much more often than those without](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/f9d13174-c645-4f38-b6d4-5486e5dd3fc5.jpeg){kind=link}
Reading this fairly. All ten deposit states are shown, not just the best ones. Their reported rates vary widely: Massachusetts is at 33%, Oregon (10¢) at 88%. Every state figure is above the 26% national non-deposit figure, but the measures and years differ, so this is not a like-for-like comparison (see below).
Different measures and years. Most state bars are calendar-year 2025 redemption rates for containers covered by each state’s deposit law; Hawaii’s is fiscal year 2024–25, and Iowa’s hatched bar is a 2022 recovery rate. The bottom two bars are 2021 U.S. recycling rates cited in CRI’s August 2026 release, and “not on deposit” includes non-deposit drinks sold inside deposit states. The bottom bars show the national gap between deposit and non-deposit containers; the state bars add context. None of this gives an Illinois-specific rate.
Connecticut rose from 65% to 92% in a year, following upgrades that included more return locations and a deposit increase from 5¢ to 10¢ in January 2024. CRI cautions that cross-border returns, claims of over-redemption by some distributors, and beverage sales that CRI estimates exceed what distributors report could all inflate the reported rate.
Iowa (hatched) is CRI’s 2022 “recovery rate,” which counts curbside and drop-off recycling as well as deposit redemptions, so it isn’t directly comparable to the redemption rates.
Sources
- Data: Container Recycling Institute (CRI), press release, Aug. 3, 2026. Source of all state rates, Iowa’s 2022 figure, the 2021 national 64% and 26% recycling rates, and the Connecticut caveats. CRI is a nonprofit that advocates for deposit-return laws.
- Official program pages (used for deposit amounts, not for the rates): Connecticut DEEP, Bottle Bill FAQ (10¢ deposit since Jan. 1, 2024); Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, Bottle Bill (OLCC administers Oregon’s 10¢ program).
- Independent reporting that cross-checks CRI’s 2025 figures (based on CRI’s data, not separate datasets): Resource Recycling, Aug. 5, 2026; Waste Dive, 2026; Hartford Business Journal, 2026 (also notes New York’s 5¢ deposit); Waste Dive, 2025 (Michigan and Oregon at 10¢).
Glass bottles with a deposit are often cleaned and reused which is better than recycling. And because it’s all the same type of plastic, plastic bottles with deposit can be recycled much more effectively than the mixed plastic that’s dumped in city recycling bins.