Gov. Gavin Newsom signed off on changes to California’s bottle recycling law in a bid to bolster the state’s beverage container recycling program, reducing the amount of plastic and glass going into landfills and helping to stabilize the recycling market. Senate Bill 353, introduced by Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, will add containers of 100 percent fruit juice and vegetable juice to the state’s bottle recycling law, putting another 200 million containers per year into the recycling stream, Dodd’s office said in a news release Saturday.
It would also invest new ongoing funding to support rural recycling options for consumers to redeem their deposit and improve recycling rates. The bill also authorizes the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to adjust its processing of payment calculations for recyclers to a quarterly schedule rather than yearly, helping to stabilize the market.
Lastly, the bill improves transparency on recycling metrics and allows the department to make critical efficiency improvements. “This is a big step toward cutting our state’s waste stream while uplifting our recycling program,” Sen. Dodd said in a statement. “This new law reduces the amount of recyclables we put into landfills, provides a financial lifeline to recyclers, and maximizes consumers’ options for redeeming deposits on beverage containers. Ultimately, it will help us meet our recycling goals. I thank the governor for his support.”