D.C. committee hears wide-ranging debate over proposed bottle bill

The Committee on Business and Economic Development on Oct. 1 held an extended public hearing on Bill 26‑58, the Recycling Refund and Litter Reduction Amendment Act of 2025 — commonly called the D.C. bottle bill — which would require a 10¢ deposit on most beverage containers sold in the District and establish a nonprofit stewardship organization to run returns and recycling.

Supporters said the bill would sharply reduce litter, raise recycling rates and create economic opportunities for people who collect containers; opponents — wholesalers, some retailers and small producers — warned the measure would impose new administrative, storage and fraud‑prevention costs that could be passed on to consumers and harm small businesses. No formal vote was taken at the hearing.

The bill, introduced in January by Councilmember Rhiannon Nadeau and co‑sponsored by 10 colleagues, would amend the District’s Sustainable Solid Waste Management Act (2014) to create an extended‑producer‑responsibility style program overseen by the Department of Energy and the Environment. Supporters at the hearing cited examples from 10 U.S. states and other countries where deposit systems have produced large increases in redemption rates and reductions in litter. “There is a solution,” Councilmember Nadeau said at the start of the hearing. “The deposit return program has been implemented in 10 states and is highly and measurably successful in every one of them.”

Environmental and community…