Litter Reduction Act of 2025.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 344

Short Title: Litter Reduction Act of 2025. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives K. Brown, von Haefen, Hawkins, and Harrison (Primary
Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Agriculture and Environment, if favorable, Appropriations, if favorable, Rules,
Calendar, and Operations of the House
March 11, 2025
*H344-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REDUCE ROA DSIDE AND OTHER LITT ERING AND TO ENCOURA GE 2
RECYCLING BY REQUIRI NG A DEPOSIT ON BEVE RAGE CONTAINERS AND 3
REQUIRING REDEMPTION CENTERS TO ACCEPT R ETURNED BEVERAGE 4
CONTAINERS AND REFUND THE DEPOSITS. 5
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 6
SECTION 1. Article 9 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes is amended by 7
adding a new Part to read: 8
"Part 2K. Beverage Container Deposits and Refunds. 9
"§ 130A-309.245. Findings; intent. 10
(a) The General Assembly finds that: 11
(1) Beverage containers constitute a major source of nondegradable litter and 12
solid waste in this State. 13
(2) Litter remains a large problem in North Carolina despite other efforts to 14
discourage littering and to establish criminal penalties under G.S. 14-399 for 15
first-time and subsequent offenses of littering. 16
(3) The collection and disposal of litter imposes a great financial burden on the 17
citizens of North Carolina. 18
(4) A more concerted effort to reduce litter is needed in North Carolina. 19
(5) Beverage containers should be reused or recycled. 20
(6) Other states' experience shows that beverage container deposit legislation is 21
successful in reducing litter and increasing recycling of discarded beverage 22
containers. 23
(7) Beverage container deposit legislation is consistent with the State's policy, set 24
forth in G.S. 130A-309.04, to promote methods of solid waste management 25
that are alternatives to disposal in landfills. 26
(8) The program under this Part will contribute significantly to the reduction of 27
the beverage container component of the litter in this State. 28
(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly to address the blight that litter imposes on the 29
highways and lands of this State, while creating incentives for manufacturers, distributors, 30
retailers, and consumers of beverages in beverage containers to recycle and reuse beverage 31
containers. 32
"§ 130A-309.246. Definitions. 33
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Unless a different meaning is required by the context, the following definitions apply 1
throughout this Part: 2
(1) Beverage. – Any ready-to-drink liquid intended for human oral consumption. 3
Beverage includes any malt beverage; spirituous liquor; fortified wine; 4
unfortified wine; wine cooler; soda or noncarbonated water; and any 5
nonalcoholic carbonated or noncarbonated drink in liquid form. The term does 6
not include any drug regulated under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 7
Act (Title 21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.; 52 Stat. 1040 et seq.), infant formula, meal 8
replacement liquids, or dairy products derived from animal milk. 9
(2) Beverage container. – A prepackaged container designed to hold a beverage 10
that is made of any material, including glass, plastic, and metal . Beverage 11
container does not include cartons, pouches, or aseptic packaging su ch as a 12
drink box. 13
(3) Consumer. – An individual who purchases a beverage in a beverage container 14
for his or her use or consumption with no intent to resell the beverage . 15
Consumer includes a lodging, eating, or drinking establishment. 16
(4) Contracted agent. – A public or private company or individual who enters into 17
an agreement with a distributor or deposit initiator to pick up empty beverage 18
containers from redemption centers and dealers. 19
(5) Curbside recycling program. – A recycling program that meets all of the 20
following criteria: 21
a. The program picks up recyclables from individual residences. 22
b. The program is operated by, or pursuant to a contract with, a city, 23
county, or other public agency. 24
c. The program accepts empty beverage containers from consumers with 25
the intent to recycle them. 26
(6) Curbside recycling program entity. – A material recovery facility or any other 27
person or establishment contracted to receive beverage containers collected 28
through a curbside recycling program for the purposes of processing, sorting, 29
or preparation for recycling. 30
(7) Dealer. – A person who sells beverages in beverage containers, including 31
beverage containers sold through vending machines, to a consumer at the 32
retail level. Dealer does not include any of the following: 33
a. Establishments who sell less than 250,000 beverage containers in a 34
calendar year. 35
b. Establishments that provide on-premises consumption of beverages in 36
beverage containers, such as hotels, restaurants, or bars. 37
(8) Deposit initiator. – The first distributor to collect the deposit on beverage 38
containers sold to any person within the State. 39
(9) Distributor. – A person who engages in the sale of beverages in beverage 40
containers to a dealer in this State . A manufacturer of beverages who also 41
engages in the sale of beverages is also a distributor. 42
(10) Downcycling. – Methods of sorting, processing, and aggregating materials 43
from solid waste that do not preserve the original material quality and, as a 44
result, render the aggregated material no longer usable for manufacturing into 45
the same or a substantially similar product. 46
(11) Environmental justice community . – A community determined by the 47
Department to include a concentration of low -income households, people of 48
color – including indigenous peoples, or households lacking English language 49
proficiency. 50
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House Bill 344-First Edition Page 3
(12) Processing payment. – The amount of money paid by a distributor to a 1
curbside recycling entity as determined by the Department pursuant to 2
G.S. 130A-309.255. 3
(13) Producer responsibility organization. – A nonprofit organization organized 4
under section 501(c) or section 501(d) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 5
U.S.C. § 501(c), § 501(d)) and created by a group of distributors to fulfill their 6
obligations under this Part. 7
(14) Recyclable. – With respect to beverage containers, a type of beverage 8
container that can be technically recycled in current United States market 9
conditions without the consumer needing to remove an attached component 10
of the beverage container, such as a shrink sleeve, label, or filter. 11
(15) Recycle, recycling, or recycled. – The series of activities by which a covered 12
product is collected, sorted, processed, and converted into a raw material with 13
minimal loss in material quality for use in the production of a new produc t, 14
including a new version of the covered product . These terms do not include 15
any of the following: 16
a. Downcycling. 17
b. The use of materials as fuel, a fuel substitute, or for energy production. 18
c. The use of materials for repurpo sing into infrastructure or 19
construction, including, but not limited to, pavement for streets, 20
sidewalks, or roads, building materials, or other infrastructure 21
products, as the Department may specify by rule. 22
d. The disposal of materials within a solid waste disposal facility or the 23
use of materials for alternative daily cover for a solid waste disposal 24
facility. 25
e. The processing of materials through advanced recycling, chemical 26
recycling, combustion, gasification, i ncineration, pyrolysis, 27
solvolysis, thermal desorption, waste-to-energy, waste-to-fuel, or any 28
other chemical or molecular conversion process. 29
(16) Recycling rate. – With res pect to a category of beverage container, the 30
percentage of that category of beverage container that is recycled. 31
(17) Redeemer. – Any person other than a dealer who demands the refund value 32
provided for herein in exchange for an empty beverage container. 33
(18) Redemption center. – An operation certified by the Department that engages 34
in any of the following activities: 35
a. Accepts empty beverage containers from consumers of beverages and 36
pays, or provides the refund value, for empty beverage containers. 37
b. Collects and sorts empty beverage containers from dealers. 38
(19) Redemption location. – A place, mobile unit, reverse vending machine, or 39
other device where a certified redemption center accepts one or more types of 40
empty beverage containers from consumers and pays, or provides the refund 41
value, for one or more types of empty beverage containers. 42
(20) Retailer. – A person who sells or offers for sale in this State to consumers a 43
beverage in a beverage container, including an operator of a vending machine 44
containing a beverage in a beverage container. 45
(21) Reusable. – With respect to beverage containers, means that the container is 46
capable of being refilled a number of times that the Department shall establish 47
by rule under current market conditions in the United States. 48
(22) Reverse vending machine . – An automated device that can accurately 49
recognize the universal product code on containers to determine if the 50
container is redeemable and accumulates information regarding containers 51
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redeemed, including the number of such containers redeemed, thereby 1
enabling the device to a ccept containers from redeemers, issue a receipt for 2
their refund value, transmit data for reconciliation, sort, and compact the 3
container to cancel it. 4
(23) Single-use beverage container. – A beverage container that is not designed or 5
placed in commerce to be reusable. 6
(24) Supermarket. – A full-line, self-service retail store with gross annual sales of 7
two million dollars ($2,000,000) or more that sells dry goods, canned goods, 8
nonfood items, and perishable items. 9
(25) Universal product code (UPC). – A standard for encoding a set of lines and 10
spaces that can be scanned and interpreted into numbers to identify a product. 11
Universal product code includes any industry accepted barcode used for 12
product identification purposes in a manner similar to a UPC, such as a 13
European Article Number. 14
(26) Use or consumption . – The exercise of any right or power over a beverage 15
incident to the ownership thereof, other than the sale, storage, or retention for 16
the purposes of sale of a beverage. 17
"§ 130A-309.247. Department to administer program; adoption of rules. 18
(a) The Department shall administer this Part. 19
(b) The Department and the Commission for Health Services may adopt any rules 20
necessary or useful to implement this Part, and the Department may adopt any rules necessary or 21
useful to carry out any of its duties imposed under this Part. The Department shall determine, by 22
rule, all of the following: 23
(1) The method for calculating the redemption rate and recycling rate for beverage 24
containers. 25
(2) The method for calculating the amount of reusable beverage containers sold 26
or refilled. 27
(3) The process for information collection necessary to ensure distributor and 28
dealer compliance with the requirements of this Part. 29
(4) The method for determining compliance with the performance standards set 30
forth in G.S. 130A-309.256. 31
(5) The designation of environmental justice communities in this State. 32
(6) The number of cycles for a beverage container to qualify as reusable. 33
(7) The process for determinin g t he handling fee payable to dealers and 34
redemption centers under G.S. 130A-309.254 and the applicable processing 35
payment under G.S. 130A-309.255. 36
(8) The process for licensing of redemption centers. 37
(9) The process for soliciting, reviewing , and awarding gr ants from the 38
Unredeemed Beverage Container Deposits Account established in 39
G.S. 130A-309.257(c). 40
"§ 130A-309.248. Deposit and refund value; requirements concerning beverage containers. 41
(a) Every consumer who purchases a beverage in a beverage container shall pay a deposit 42
equal to the refund value under subsection (b) of this section. 43
(b) Subject to the adjustment set forth in subsection (d) of this section, every beverage 44
container sold or offered for sale to a consumer in this State that has a volume which is not less 45
than 50 milliliters nor greater than 3 liters of a beverage shall have a refund value of ten cents 46
(10¢). 47
(c) Every beverage container that contains a beverage that is sold or offered for sale in 48
this State shall (i) clearly indicate by embossing or imprinting on the normal product label, or in 49
the case of metal beverage containers, on the top of the container the words "North Carolina" or 50
the initials "N.C." and the refund value of the container in not less than 1/4 inch type size and (ii) 51
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include a UPC barcode to identify and validate participation in the refund program as set forth in 1
this section. 2
(d) Every five years, beginning July 1, 2028, the Department shall do all of the following: 3
(1) Determine the percentages of each category of beverage containers, based on 4
the composition of the container: aluminum, nonaluminum metal, glass, 5
plastic, or other materials or combination of materials, that are being returned. 6
If the Department finds that the return rate for any category is less than 7
seventy-five percent (75%), the Department may increase the deposit value 8
for that category of beverage containers by five cents (5¢). 9
(2) Update the deposit value to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index 10
computed by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics over the previous 11
five years. 12
"§ 130A-309.249. Duties of retailers. 13
(a) Every retailer shall pay to the distributor deposits equal to the value of the refunds 14
under G.S. 130A-309.248 when the retailer purchases beverages from a distributor and shall 15
receive deposits from consumers at the time of sale. 16
(b) Every retailer shall identify, by a clear and conspicuous sign at the retailer 's place of 17
business, the address of at least the redemption center or redemption location nearest to the 18
retailer that redeems all types of empty beverage containers at one location during at least 30 19
hours per week with a minimum of five hours of operation occurring during periods other than 20
from Monday to Friday, from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. 21
"§ 130A -309.250. Regulation and reporting requirements for distribut ors of beverage 22
containers. 23
(a) No distributor shall sell a beverage container in the State without the distributor 24
registering the beverage container with the Department prior to the sale. This registration shall 25
take place on a form provided by the Department and include all of the following: 26
(1) The name and principal business address of the distributor. 27
(2) The name of the beverage and the container size. 28
(3) The material type of the beverage container. 29
(4) Documentation of the presence and type of UPC on the beverage container. 30
(5) Methods the distributor intends to use to prevent the fraudulent sale and 31
redemption of beverage containers not sold within the State. 32
(6) The name of the person picking up the empty beverage containers from 33
dealers, redemption centers, and curbside recycling entities, if that person is 34
different from the distributor. 35
(7) Any other information required by the Department to enforce the provisions 36
of this Part. 37
(b) The Department may request that a distributor provide a copy of the container label, 38
or a picture of any beverage container sold or offered for sale in the State on which it initiates a 39
deposit. 40
(c) A distributor shall place a deposit as determined by G.S. 130A-309.248 on all 41
beverage containers sold, offered for sale, or distributed into the sale. 42
"§ 130A-309.251. Establishment of redemption centers. 43
(a) The Department shall allow for the establishment, operation, and licensure of 44
redemption centers. Redemption centers shall accept all types of beverage containers. 45
(b) These redemption centers shall supplement, but not supplant, the return of beverage 46
containers to dealers as required by G.S. 130A-309.252. 47
"§ 130A-309.252. Acceptance of beverage containers by dealers. 48
(a) A dealer shall accept at their place of business from a redeemer any empty beverage 49
container during any period that the dealer is open for business, regardless of whether the specific 50
beverage container was sold by the dealer, as long as the beverage container is made of the same 51
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type of material as the beverage containers sold by the dealer . The dealer shall pay to the 1
redeemer the deposit value for each beverage container redeemed. 2
(b) A dealer or redemption center may refuse to accept from a redeemer an y empty 3
beverage container that is not clean, is broken, or contains foreign material or other contaminants. 4
(c) Redemptions of the deposit value must be in legal tender, or a script or receipt from 5
a reverse vending machine, providing that the script or receipt can be exchanged for legal tender 6
for a period of not less than 60 days without requiring the purchase of other goods. The use or 7
presence of a reverse vending machine shall not relieve a dealer of any obligation imposed 8
pursuant to this Part. If a dealer utilizes a reverse vending machine to redeem containers, the 9
dealer shall provide for redemption of beverage containers when the reverse vending machine is 10
full, broken, under repair, or does not accept a type of beverage container material sold or offered 11
for sale by such dealer. 12
(d) Each dealer shall establish and maintain a dedicated area within their place of business 13
to accept beverage containers for redemption. 14
"§ 130A-309.253. Acceptance of beverage containers by distributors. 15
(a) A distributor shall accept from a dealer or redemption center any empty beverage 16
containers of the design, shape, size, color, composition, and brand sold, distributed, or offered 17
for sale by the distributor in the State and shall pay the dealer or redemptio n center a handling 18
fee as established by the Department pursuant to G.S. 130A-309.254 for each such beverage 19
container. 20
(b) A distributor shall accept and redeem all such empty beverage containers from a 21
dealer or redemption center. 22
(c) A distributor's failure to pick up empty beverage containers, including containers 23
processed in a reverse vending machine, from a redemption center, dealer, or the operator of a 24
reverse vending machine shall be a violation of this Part. 25
(d) A group of distributors may ele ct to create or appoint a p roducer responsibility 26
organization to fulfill their obligations under this Part. The Department shall not delegate to any 27
producer responsibility organization the authority to oversee, enforce, or manage the 28
requirements of this Part. 29
"§ 130A-309.254. Handling fee. 30
(a) A dealer or redemption center who redeems beverage containers shall be reimbursed 31
by the distributor of such beverage containers a handling fee set by the Department. 32
(b) The Department shall set the handling fee to be paid by distributors to dealers or 33
redemption centers in a manner that covers the costs of collecting, sorting, processing, and 34
transporting empty beverage containers for recycling, reuse, or refilling. 35
(c) The Department shall update the handling fee every five years to reflect changes in 36
the Consumer Price Index computed by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics over the 37
previous five years. 38
(d) Beginning three years after the effective date of this act, the Department shall increase 39
the handling fee by one cent (1¢) if there is less than one point of redemption for every 3,000 40
persons in each county within the State or there is less than one point of redemption for every 41
3,000 persons in an environmental justice community. For purposes of this subsection, a point of 42
redemption is either a dealer or redemption center redeeming beverage containers. 43
"§ 130A-309.255. Curbside collection of beverage containers. 44
(a) The Department may approve procedures allowing for curbside recycling entities to 45
be paid a processing payment for beverage containers collected, processed, sorted, and delivered 46
to distributors for recycling, so long as the beverage containers collected are clean, sorted, and 47
baled. The processing payment shall not exceed t he value of the handling fee set by the 48
Department pursuant to G.S. 130A-309.254. 49
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(b) Beverage containers collected, processed, sorted , and delivered to distributors by 1
entities that collect curbside recycling shall not be included in the calculations of the performance 2
requirements set in G.S. 130A-309.256. 3
"§ 130A-309.256. Performance standards. 4
(a) The following performance standards apply with respect to redemption of beverage 5
containers: 6
(1) Beginning July 1, 2027, at least eighty percent (80%) of beverage containers 7
sold in the State shall be redeemed. 8
(2) Beginning July 1, 2029, at least ninety percent (90%) of beverage containers 9
sold in the State shall be redeemed. 10
(3) Beginning July 1, 203 1, at least ninety-five percent ( 95%) of beverage 11
containers sold in the State shall be redeemed. 12
(b) The following performance standards apply with respect to recycling of single-use 13
containers: 14
(1) Beginning July 1, 2027, at least seventy percent (70%) of single-use beverage 15
containers sold in the State shall be recycled. 16
(2) Beginning July 1, 2029, at least eighty percent (80%) of single -use beverage 17
containers sold in the State shall be recycled. 18
(3) Beginning July 1, 203 1, at least eighty -five percent (85%) of sing le-use 19
beverage containers sold in the State shall be recycled. 20
(c) The Department shall require each distributor, and any producer responsibility 21
organization, to work with dealers within the State to develop a plan that ensures that the 22
distributor and any producer responsibility organization meet the following standards for reuse 23
and refilling: 24
(1) Beginning July 1, 2029, at least ten percent (10%) of all beverage containers 25
sold by the distributor or the distributors that are members of the producer 26
responsibility organization are returned and refilled. 27
(2) Beginning July 1, 203 1, at least twenty percent ( 20%) of all beverage 28
containers sold by the distributor or the distributors that are members of the 29
producer responsibility organization are returned and refilled. 30
"§ 130A-309.257. Management of deposits. 31
(a) Each deposit initiator who received deposits under this act shall segregate the deposits 32
in a deposit transaction fund maintained separately from all other revenues. Each deposit initiator 33
shall place in the fund each deposit for all beverage containers the deposit initiator sells. 34
(b) The revenue in the deposit transaction fund may only be expended to pay the refund 35
to consumers for the return of an empty beverage container. 36
(c) At the end of each month, any amounts that are or should be in the deposit initiator's 37
deposit transaction fund that are in excess of the sum of (i) interest income earned on amounts in 38
the fund during that month and (ii) t he total amount of refund values received by the deposit 39
initiator for beverage containers that month and the two preceding months shall be deemed to 40
constitute unredeemed deposits. 41
(d) No later than the tenth day of each month, each deposit initiator shall remit to the 42
Department from its deposit transaction fund any deposit amounts deemed to be unredeemed at 43
the close of the preceding month, pursuant to subsection (c) of this section. 44
(e) If in any month the authorized payments from the deposit transaction fund by a 45
deposit initiator exceed the funds that are or should be in the deposit transaction fund, the 46
Department shall reimburse the deposit initiator the amount of excess funds remitted to it under 47
this section. 48
"§ 130A-309.258. Beverage Container Litter Reduction Account. 49
(a) The Beverage Container Litter Reduction Account is created in the Department, to be 50
administered by the Department. The Beverage Container Litter Reduction Account is a 51
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nonreverting fund that consists of unredeemed refund values remitted by di stributors to the 1
Department under G.S. 130A-309.257 and credited to the account. Interest earned shall accrue 2
to the account. 3
(b) The Beverage Container Litter Reduction Account shall be used to fund the 4
following: 5
(1) The costs to the Department for administering this Part. 6
(2) A reserve for contingencies in a reasonable and prudent amount determined 7
by the Department, not to exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000). 8
(c) The Unredeemed Beverage Container Deposits Account is created in the Department, 9
to be administered by the Department. After all expenditures under subsection (b) of this section 10
have been made, the balance remaining in the Beverage Container Litter Reduction Account shall 11
be credited to the Unredeemed Beverage Container Deposits Account. The Unredeemed 12
Beverage Container Deposits Account may be used by the Department to provide grants for all 13
of the following purposes: 14
(1) For urban, rural, and recreational litter abatement and recycling activities. 15
(2) For recycling information, education, and promotion. 16
(3) For incentive payments to encourage the establishment of redemption centers 17
in environmental justice communities or rural areas. 18
(4) For public education programs directed at reducing litter. 19
"§ 130A-309.259. Additional penalties. 20
(a) A person may be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) 21
per violation if the person does any of the following: 22
(1) Sells or offers for sale beverages in containers not labeled in accordance with 23
G.S. 130A-309.248 or registered under G.S. 130A-309.250. 24
(2) Makes a report pursuant to G.S. 130A-309.260 that is false. 25
(b) The Department may examine the accounts and records of deposit initiators and may 26
assess a penalty of ten percent (10%) per year, plus interest, for underpayments of the refund 27
value for beverage containers to be credited to the Beverage Container Litter Reduction Account. 28
The Department may also impose a civil penalty of fifteen percent (15%) of the amount due for 29
payments up to a month late and a five percent (5%) additional penalty for each month the 30
payments continue to be unremitted. 31
"§ 130A-309.260. Reports. 32
(a) Every distributor who sells or offers for sale in this State beverage containers or 33
beverages in beverage containers shall report to the Department no later than April 15, 2026, and 34
quarterly thereafter, the number of beverage containers sold, categorized by material type and 35
size and weight, by whether the container is reusable or single -use, and by any other manner 36
prescribed by the Department. 37
(b) No later than July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, the Department shall determine 38
and shall include in its report to the Environmental Review Commission all of the following: 39
(1) A summary of the information contained in the distributors ' reports under 40
subsection (a) of this section. 41
(2) The status of beverage container recycling opportunities throughout the State, 42
together with any recommendations on methods to enhance the opportunities 43
for all consumers in every region of the State to return empty beverage 44
containers conveniently, efficiently, and economically. 45
(3) An analysis of the total amount of funds used for program administration and 46
for reimbursement payments to redemption centers, nonprofit drop -off 47
programs, and curbside programs and an analysis of how funds in the 48
Unredeemed Beverage Container Deposit s Account are distributed and used 49
under G.S. 130A-309.258(c). 50
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(4) The economic impact of this Part on North Carolina retailers, distributors, and 1
manufacturers of beverages and their containers. 2
(5) The problems, if any, incurred in the distribution, sale, and return of beverage 3
containers attributed to the enactment of this Part. 4
(6) The effectiveness of this Part in reducing the proportion of empty beverage 5
containers in litter found along the State 's roads and highways and along its 6
streams and rivers. 7
(7) The effectiveness of this Part in increasing recycling or reuse of beverage 8
containers. 9
(8) The costs incurred in the administration of this Part. 10
(9) Any recommendations or administrative or legislative proposals cons idered 11
appropriate to improving the effectiveness of this Part in achieving its 12
purposes. 13
(10) Any other information the Department determines is pertinent to achieving 14
the purposes of this Part. 15
(c) The Department may require any retailer, distributor, or certified redemption center 16
to provide that information concerning its compliance with this Part that will enable the 17
Department to prepare its report under this section." 18
SECTION 2. G.S. 130A-309.247, 130A -309.248(c), 130A -309.250(a), and 19
130A-309.258(a), as enacted in Section 1 of this act, become effective April 1, 2026. The 20
remainder of this act becomes effective January 1, 2026, and applies to beverage containers sold 21
or offered for sale on or after that date. 22