An Act To Create Fairness in the Redemption of Beverage Containers
Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §3106, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 166, §14, is amended to read:
Sec. 2. 38 MRSA §3106, sub-§2-A is enacted to read:
(1) No more than 50% of the business days that the dealer is open weekly; or
(2) No more than 2 hours of each business day that the dealer is open if the dealer accepts beverage containers on all business days that the dealer is open.
If a dealer restricts the hours or days during which the dealer accepts beverage containers, the hours or days during which the dealer will not accept containers must be conspicuously posted.
summary
This bill amends the bottle redemption laws to require a dealer to accept from a consumer or other person and to pay the refund value on any beverage container that was sold by the dealer if no approved bottle redemption centers are located within 5 miles from the property line of the dealer. Subject to prior approval of the Department of Environmental Protection, a dealer shall affix to the beverage containers it sells a sticker or similar device indicating that the beverage container is sold by the dealer and may refuse to accept from a consumer or other person and to pay the refund value on any beverage container that does not have the sticker or similar device affixed to it. A dealer may also limit the hours or days on which it accepts beverage containers for redemption.
Under the bottle redemption laws, a dealer is a person who sells, offers to sell or engages in the sale of beverages in beverage containers to a consumer, and a dealer may, but is not currently required to, accept from a consumer or other person and pay the refund value on any beverage container.