Could Michigan End Its Bottle Deposit System?

Before 1978, Michigan’s roads were littered with bottles and cans. Since the Beverage Container Act took effect, litter has improved dramatically. Now, one organization is pushing to end Michigan’s bottle return system.

Michigan's Bottle and Can Returns

If you were born after 1978, you might not remember what Michigan was like before the Bottle Bill. Back then, roadsides and parks were often covered with bottles, cans, and broken glass.

As a kid, I remember my friends and I shooting our BB guns at bottles and cans. Recycling just wasn’t something we thought much about. Once Michigan started offering a refund for those containers, though, our targets changed, we switched to homemade cardboard targets instead.

It’s funny what a little incentive can do.

Michigan looks a whole lot better because of the bottle and can return system that was put in place. But now, one organization is pushing to turn back the clock and eliminate bottle and can returns at stores.

Organization Pushing to Get Rid of Michigan's Bottle & Can Deposit

According to the Midwest Independent Retailers Association (MIRA), it’s time to “recycle the bottle bill” and replace it with modern curbside recycling or local drop-off centers. MIRA argues that Michigan’s Bottle Bill, introduced in 1976 and put into effect in 1978, has already served its original purpose.

MIRA says the bottle return system is a strain on consumers, but its members represent retail stores that also have to deal with the costs of operating the return system. While you may not see as many returnable bottles and cans littering Michigan’s roads and parks, you’ll still find plenty of water bottles and other containers that don’t have a deposit or refund value taking their place.

The group’s claim that bottle returns have dropped 30% over the past couple of years can be misleading when you consider the huge spike in returns during the pandemic. Comparing today’s numbers to those unusually high levels doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story.

And there’s a simple point to consider: if more bottles and containers, like water bottles and Gatorade bottles, were included in the return system, there would be an additional incentive to collect and return them instead of leaving them along Michigan’s roads and in its parks.

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MIRA supports legislation that would end Michigan’s Beverage Container Act and move all beverage containers into the recycling system, arguing that it would benefit consumers, retailers, and the environment. That proposal also raises questions about who would benefit most from such a change, particularly when retailers would no longer have to handle the bottle return system.

Remember what Michigan looked like before 1978, when bottles and cans were commonly left along roadsides and in parks. Now imagine what could happen if the bottle return system were reversed. Rather than getting rid of the deposit system, perhaps a better approach would be to expand it and make more beverage containers returnable.

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