If you’ve been piling up bags and bags of bottles and cans instead of standing in long lines at a handful of places to return them,  you may finally be able to cash in on those deposits.

 

Effective immediately, all grocery stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, gas stations and other retailers of every kind with bottle return facilities, regardless where such facilities are physically located, and whether serviced by reverse vending machines, staffed by employees, or some combination of the two, must re-open their bottle return facilities and resume the collection of returnable beverage containers and refund of customer bottle deposits.

 

Retailers may take any or all of the following steps, as they may determine to be necessary or prudent, in order to comply with state-mandated safety protocols:

 

--Limit the number of beverage containers that may be returned by a single individual per day to a deposit refund amount of $25

--Establish special or limited hours of operation for bottle return facilities.

--Limit the number of available and operating reverse vending machines.

--Periodically close bottle deposit facilities as needed for cleaning and supply management.

--Implement such other procedures or restrictions as each retailer may determine are necessary or advisable to promote safety and/or efficiency.

 

Recycling:  Consumers should be aware that they always have the option of recycling their returnable beverage containers if they choose not to return them to a bottle deposit redemption facility.