Governor Signs Sen. Blakespear’s Legislation to Boost Bottle Recycling

SB 955 increases the locations where consumers can take bottles and cans to get their deposits returned, eliminates recycling ‘dead zones’

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed legislation by Sen. Catherine S. Blakespear, D-Encinitas, to boost bottle recycling by ensuring communities have the capacity to take back and recycle 100 percent of the bottles sold by stores in their area.  

SB 955 updates California’s beverage recycling program and requirements of stores to participate to eliminate areas known as recycling “dead zones” where consumers have few or no options for returning cans and bottles and collecting the California Redemption Value (CRV) for them. The legislation will create more locations for recyclable beverage containers.    

“I thank the Governor for signing SB 955, which makes crucial updates to the state’s bottle recycling program to ensure all major stores are participating and consumers have a place nearby to return containers and collect their deposits,” Sen. Blakespear said. “California’s beverage recycling program can’t work as designed if consumers don’t have places in their communities to return bottles.”

Legislation passed in 2021 (SB 1013 by Sen. Atkins) modernized the state’s beverage container recycling program by establishing new dealer cooperative arrangements for stores to handle recycling and setting convenience collection zones. The legislation also added wine, distilled spirits, tea, coffee and 100 percent fruit juice containers into the CRV system. 

SB 955 builds on this legislation by clarifying all the stores that are required to participate – an outdated definition left out certain stores – and that collection facilities within collection zones must have the capacity to collect all the bottles and cans sold within that zone. 

Dealer cooperatives have increasingly turned to using reverse vending machines, which accept empty CRV-eligible beverage containers, verify them by material and barcode and automatically refund the consumer’s deposit while storing the containers for later collection and recycling. 

Under current law, a single reverse vending machine can meet the requirement for serving a convenience zone, but a single machine is often insufficient. A vending machine’s capacity is limited, and once full, they can’t be used by consumers.

The bill is co-sponsored by the Circular CRV Association (C-CRV) and the California Grocers Association (CGA).

The new law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2027.  

The Chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, Sen. Blakespear has worked hard to reduce waste, increase recycling, promote sustainable living and better protect the environment since being elected to the Senate in 2022. 

Sen. Blakespear’s SB 1053, which helps reduce California’s immense stream of plastic pollution by prohibiting plastic bags from being provided at grocery store checkouts, took effect on Jan. 1, 2026. In addition, she has fought for strong regulations to implement SB 54, landmark legislation passed in 2022 that requires at least 65 percent of single-use packaging to be recycled and 100 percent of packaging sold in California to be recyclable or compostable by 2032.

Sen. Blakespear represents Senate District 38, which covers northern San Diego County and southern Orange County. To learn more about the district and Sen. Blakespear, visit her Senate website.