Connecticut Bottle Redemption System

OLR Report 2015-R-0211 summarizes how Connecticut's bottle redemption system operates.  The bottle redemption system operates as a cycle involving transactions between distributors, retailers, and consumers.  It operates as follows:

1. a retailer pays a beverage container distributor five-cents for each beverage container that the distributor delivers;
2. a consumer pays the retailer five-cents for each beer, soft drink, or water container that he or she purchases from the retailer;
3. the retailer or a redemption center pays the consumer five-cents for each container the consumer returns;
4. the distributor reimburses the retailer or redemption center five-cents for each beer, soft drink, and water container returned, plus a handling fee of one-and-a-half cents for each beer container and two-cents for each soft drink or water container; and
5. the distributor pays the State of Connecticut the five-cents for each unclaimed deposit.

In each fiscal year from 2012 to 2014, the state received over $27 million from unclaimed deposits.

For more information, read the full report here.