Beverage container redemption rates for calendar year 2025 in the U.S. deposit-return system (DRS, aka bottle bill) states – with the exception of Connecticut and, to a lesser extent, Maine – showed relatively small changes compared to the rates in calendar year 2024, according to data released by the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), a national nonprofit recycling industry authority.
Below are findings from CRI’s data compilation for redemption rates in nine (of the 10 total) DRS states with available information.
CRI President Susan Collins said that DRS programs represent the “gold standard” for increasing beverage container recycling rates, with containers on deposit recycled at a 64% rate in the U.S. and containers not on deposit at 26% (2021 data). She added that given the decade-long decline in redemption rates in several DRS states, program maintenance and modernizations – higher container deposit amounts, coverage of more beverage types, additional convenient options for bottle and can returns, and enforcement of program requirements – remain the best practices for long-term increases in redemption rates.
Based on legislation that placed deposits on more beverage types in California (starting in 2024) and Connecticut (starting in 2023), CRI can conclusively say that 2 billion-plus more beverage containers are now on deposit in the U.S. compared to just a couple of years ago. Redemption of more containers on deposit is crucial to ensuring a greater supply of clean, high-quality material for manufacturing new products.
Collins also pointed to positive developments in several DRS states. “Maine and Vermont earn kudos for working to implement DRS program overhauls to lay the groundwork for future program upgrades, while California receives credit for expanding beverage container redemption options for consumers, which CRI had advocated for over the course of seven years,” she said.
“The redemption rates in Massachusetts (a troubling deposit state low of 33%) and Michigan, both of which have lagged in making any program improvements, have dropped the most among DRS states since 2019 – 17% and 20%, respectively,” she noted. “This provides a clear indication of the importance of legislative and regulatory action to stabilize and ultimately increase redemption rates.”
Connecticut: A 27% Redemption Rate Increase
Signed into law in 2021, Connecticut’s SB 1037 was the most significant DRS expansion/modernization legislation passed in the U.S. in about a decade. Its phased-in implementation of improvements included:
1) raising handling fees for retailers and redemption centers to cover increases in operating costs (effective Oct. 1, 2021);
2) requiring chain stores that meet certain criteria to provide at least two reverse vending machines (RVMs), effective Oct. 1, 2021, which added 300 new redemption sites for consumers;
3) placing deposits on non-carbonated beverages and malt-based hard seltzer (effective Jan. 1, 2023);
4) increasing the deposit-refund for covered beverages from 5¢ to 10¢ (effective Jan. 1, 2024).
Connecticut’s beverage container redemption rate jumped from 44% to 92% from 2023 to 2025 and the number of beverage containers redeemed rose by more than 925 million over that same time period. Given the data showing a significant increase in Connecticut’s DRS program performance since the implementation of major upgrades, it is clear that the legislation that authorized the modernization is making a difference.
Despite the positive news, the state’s DRS also is currently struggling with claims of over-redemption by some distributors, and CRI estimates that beverage sales in the state are higher than what beverage distributors are reporting. In addition, there are reports of empty beverage containers being brought across state borders by individuals seeking to take advantage of the deposit-refund price differential from state to state. Based on the data above, between 2023 and 2025 New York’s redeemed beverage containers decreased by about 2 million containers.
Collins said, “Connecticut legislators are working on solutions to these issues, which could be inflating the actual beverage container redemption rate.” SB 457, signed into law in May, prohibits collecting or charging a refund on a beverage container not purchased in the state. However, CRI’s analysis indicates that the law’s language creates practical and legal concerns, including that it appears unworkable in the context of modern retail supply chains.