HB 1505 Summary

• Establishes a five cent redemption value for empty returnable plastic bottles, which retail merchants must accept and pay to customers upon presentation.

• Requires retail merchants to recycle collected empty plastic bottles through approved methods: direct delivery to recyclers, arranging pickup by recyclers, hiring transport services, or performing recycling themselves.

• Imposes Class C infractions on retail merchants who improperly dispose of bottles, recyclers who fail to recycle received bottles, and transporters who fail to deliver bottles to recyclers.

• Creates a dedicated returnable plastic bottle redemption fund administered by the state treasurer to reimburse retail merchants for redemption payments made under the program.

• Allows retail merchants a tax credit against their state gross retail and use tax liability equal to redemption amounts paid, with three-year carryforward and refund provisions for excess credits.