Dive Brief:

• City council members in Washington, D.C., have introduced one of the newest bottle bills in the U.S., which proponents say is meant to tackle litter in the nation’s capital.
• The bill, introduced last week, would add a 10-cent deposit to certain beverage containers. A nonprofit funded by beverage distributors would manage the program, but D.C.’s Department of Energy and the Environment would oversee and enforce the program.
• The bill calls for the program to begin in 2028 and aims to hit a 70% recycling rate that first year. The bill is also meant to alleviate container-related pollution in the Anacostia River and work toward D.C.’s goal of diverting 80% of the city’s waste away from landfills and incineration by 2032.

Dive Insight:

Washington, D.C., aims to follow 10 states that have their own bottle bills. Local officials say the legislation would help the district make more direct changes to its recycling system and support environmental justice initiatives in a city where pollution has disproportionately affected communities of color.

D.C. “has a significant litter issue,” but beverage containers are a particular concern, said Brianne Nadeau, a D.C. council member who sponsors the bill. That’s because plastic bottles make up about 60% of all the trash collected from the Anacostia River each year, according to environmental organization Anacostia Riverkeeper.

The pollution is a major reason why D.C. officials introduced a bottle bill instead of something like an extended producer responsibility bill for packaging, she said. “There were a lot of conversations about what made the most sense for the District of Columbia, but our goal is to get bottles and cans out of the river,” she said. Many of the containers end up going to landfill rather than getting recycled, she said.

Trey Sherard, who leads advocacy and outreach work for river protection nonprofit Anacostia Riverkeeper, said in a statement that the bottle bill could cut the amount of river litter in half. The nonprofit has called for D.C. to adopt a bottle bill for several years.

D.C.’s proposed bottle bill takes inspiration from several other states’ programs, including in Oregon and in Nadeau’s home state of Michigan. “Return rates are declining in places where the deposits are lower, so starting with [a 10 cent deposit instead of 5 cents] made a lot of sense in the way we drafted it,” Nadeau said.

The bill calls for a district-wide disposal ban on covered beverage containers on Jan. 1, 2027. The deposit program would start in 2028 with a 10-cent deposit, but that deposit value could go up to 15 cents by 2033 if certain redemption targets aren’t met. 

The bill calls for a 75% redemption rate by Dec. 31, 2028, then 90% by that day in 2031 and 95% by that date in 2034. The bill also calls for meeting a 70% recycling rate by Dec. 31, 2028, then 80% by 2031 and 85% by that date in 2034.

Though many of the implementation details would be left up to a stewardship organization, the bill mentions certain deposit infrastructure, such as reverse vending machines and bag drop programs, as possible options for redemption facilities. Many retailers would need to set up return systems, though establishments of less than 2,000 square feet would be exempt, according to the bill. 

Each of D.C.’s eight wards would need to have a certain number of redemption centers — an important provision meant to make the program accessible to under-resourced areas of the city where there are few grocery stores, Nadeau said. “We can't rely simply on grocery stores to create an equitable return system,” she said.

Environmental justice considerations are a big part of the bill. The Anacostia was once considered one of the most polluted rivers in the country, and that pollution continues to impact the city’s communities of color, particularly Black residents, according to a coalition of environmental groups that back the bill. 

They say the bottle bill would also reduce the amount of waste that goes to an incinerator in nearby Lorton, Virginia, “a predominantly Black and Brown community, where the facility emits toxic chemicals,” according to a news release. 

Damian Bascom, head of the Black-led advocacy group Zero Waste Coalition, said in a statement that the proposed bottle bill could also help low-income residents earn an income, similar to canners in places like New York or Oregon. 

“For residents east of the Anacostia where financial insecurity is a daily challenge, this bill can be a lifeline by creating pathways to supplemental income,” Bascom said. “Bottle bills are not just about recycling – they are about sustainability, equality, and dignity.” 

Washington D.C.’s position as the nation’s capital also means tourists, lawmakers and activists visit throughout the year. That means local litter issues can become national news, including during a government shutdown in 2018 when D.C.’s local government temporarily took over responsibility for collecting trash along the National Mall and other federally-operated landmarks while federal employees were furloughed.

Nadeau hopes that national spotlight can help propel the bill forward. D.C. in recent years enacted a plastic bag fee and a plastic straw ban as part of its larger zero waste plan. Adding a bottle bill “absolutely fits into all that,” she said.