OLCC and OBRC detail Oregon bottle bill operations and back an hours-limit bill

For the record, my name is Craig Prince, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s bottle-bill lead, told the Senate Energy and Environment Committee that “the takeaway is OLCC is the agency that administers the bottle bill.” The informal informational hearing on Jan. 27 included a system overview from OLCC and the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC).

The bottle bill began in 1971 to reduce roadside and beach litter and now returns roughly 2,000,000,000 containers a year, OBRC said. The state’s redemption rate was reported at 87.3% in 2023, the highest among bottle-bill states in recent data presented to the committee. Devon Morales, vice president of external affairs for OBRC, said, “Oregon's redemption model is globally touted as best in class because of our nation leading redemption rates.”

Why it matters: lawmakers are weighing bills this session that would change how and when retailers must accept returns and how alternative redemption sites are recognized. OLCC’s agency concept, introduced by Craig Prince as Senate Bill 869, would allow retailers required to accept returns to refuse containers outside designated hours; Prince summarized the agency proposal as requiring acceptance only from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

How the system works: OBRC operates a network that now includes 27 full-service redemption centers, 73 bag-drop partner locations and roughly 2,100 retail stores across Oregon. OBRC said about 80% of redemptions in recent years flow through the BottleDrop network (full-service centers plus bag-drop sites), a shift from 2010 when most returns were at retail stores. OBRC also described backend processing: five regional processing plants, local end markets for PET (Orpet, St. Helens) and glass (Glass2Glass, Portland with remelting by Owens-Illinois), and domestic processing for aluminum.

Technology and programs: OBRC described patented AI “SmartCount” software and conveyor systems that speed bulk-bag processing about four times compared with older methods and front-of-house “stream count” equipment that can identify and count a 350-container batch in under two minutes. OBRC also highlighted consumer programs: BottleDrop Plus (a 20% incentive for users that returned about 220,000 participants in 2023), a BottleDrop–Oregon College Savings Plan connection (about $500,000 transferred into OCSP in 2023), and the Blue Bag nonprofit program, which OBRC said raised about $5.55 million in 2024 preliminary data and about $33 million all time for participating nonprofits.

System stresses and responses: presenters told the committee the rapid growth of bag returns and the pandemic-era shift strained processing capacity and prompted innovations. Prince described temporary exceptions made in downtown Portland to relieve safety concerns at two retailers during a fentanyl-related public-safety response. Morales and Prince also identified past issues such as out-of-state/large-scale fraud noted in a 2020 Secretary of State audit and said enforcement and training remain part of OLCC’s role.

Legislative context: speakers referenced recent and pending actions. Morales and Prince discussed 2021 and 2022 bills that adjusted reporting and phased-in responsibilities for distributors and said those acts bring canned wine into the program later this year. Prince said OLCC will pursue an agency bill, identified on the record as Senate Bill 869, to codify hours-of-acceptance limits. The recyclers’ modernization law (Senate Bill 582) and other statutes (transcribed as ORS 459A in committee materials) were cited during the hearing.

What’s next: OLCC said it will meet with legislators individually as the session proceeds; OBRC said it plans public engagement, multilingual communications in redemption centers, targeted expansion of the bottle-drop network in 2025 and ongoing efficiency investments. No formal committee action or vote occurred at the informational hearing.