![[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¢).
I don’t understand your question.
You were suggesting a higher value for return but why return at all and not kerbside pickup like with other household waste.
AFAIK, bottle deposits aren’t for recycling, they’re for reuse (which is better). It’s about providing enough of an incentive to actually get those bottles sorted and delivered back into the supply chain (down to the same brand of drink, if it comes in a distinctive bottle like Coke does) correctly.
Dumping everything in a bin mixed together to be roughly sorted, crushed, and melted down (or pulped) into new materials is a different process.
I suppose you could have the municipal recycling people sort bottles for reuse, but then they’d still need to be able to get that deposit to make it worth their while.
I’m not the person you were answering to.
But I’m still not sure what you are suggesting.
If you mean just put bottles in with other waste, then the reason is that people will litter.
If you mean have bottles with a deposit collected curbside, I’m not sure how your suggestion would work. You’d leave a container filled with valuable goods on the side of the road and not expect it to get stolen? 🤔