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Grocers push bill to expand bag-drop access and formalize People’s Depot as alternative redemption center
Summary
Grocers and small-format retailers outlined House Bill 2068, a package to incentivize bag-drop sites, collapse some convenience zones, and create an alternative redemption-center status; downtown Portland retailers warned of safety and service gaps if large grocers stop in-store returns without matched downtown capacity.
Amanda Dalton, president of the Northwest Grocery Retail Association, told the committee that retailers “contribute an average of $34,000,000 a year into operations around the bottle system,” a figure the association said covers labor, capital and site costs for in-store returns and dealer redemption centers. Members are sponsoring House Bill 2068 to change convenience-zone geography, incent more bag-drop locations and create an alternative access path for community-run depots.
The Nut Graf: Retailers say modernizations would increase convenience, reduce in-store handling of containers and improve employee safety; small-format retailers and downtown convenience stores said the changes must protect overnight access and not concentrate returns where…
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