Bill Text: CA AB899 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Bill 899

Bill Title: Beverage containers: recycled glass: market development.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Passed) 2025-10-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 627, Statutes of 2025. [AB899 Detail]

Download: California-2025-AB899-Chaptered.html

Assembly Bill No. 899

CHAPTER 627

An act to amend Sections 14549.7 and 14581 of the Public Resources Code, relating to beverage containers.

[ Approved by Governor October 11, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 11, 2025. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 899, Ransom. Beverage containers: recycled glass: market development.

The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, a violation of which is a crime, requires a distributor of beverage containers, as defined, to pay to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery a monthly redemption payment for every beverage container sold or transferred, as provided. The act requires the department to deposit those amounts into the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund. The fund is continuously appropriated to, among other things, pay refund values and administrative fees to processors that receive empty beverage containers from recyclers. The act authorizes, until January 1, 2028, the department to pay a market development payment to a glass beverage container manufacturer who purchases recycled glass collected within this state for use in manufacturing new beverage containers in this state, as provided. The act requires the department to set the market development payment at an amount not to exceed $50 per ton. The act continuously appropriates $60,000,000 annually from the fund to the department to the make market development payments.

This bill would authorize the department to set the market development payment at different levels, but would prohibit that payment from exceeding $150 per ton. The bill would, on and after January 1, 2028, and until January 1, 2030, authorize the department to expend $20,000,000 annually from the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for glass market development payments.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Glass containers are highly sustainable because every glass bottle can be recycled endlessly without losing quality and used to create a new glass bottle, thereby reducing waste, conserving natural resources, and reducing carbon emissions associated with mining, processing, and transporting raw materials.

(b) Recycled glass (cullet) reduces energy use and carbon emissions in the manufacturing process. There is a 2- to 3-percent drop in energy use for every 10 percent cullet used in the manufacturing process. One ton of carbon is reduced for every six tons of cullet used in manufacturing.

(c) California glass container manufacturers compete on an unlevel playing field with foreign glass manufacturers with in-state recycled content requirements, compliance with in-state carbon emission reductions, and federal and regional air quality regulations, none of which are applicable to foreign glass manufacturers.

(d) California glass container manufacturers provide high-wage, highly skilled union careers.

(e) There is in the state a glass market development program to encourage in-state production, distribution, and recycling of glass.

(f) It is the intent of the Legislature to increase the production and distribution of glass bottles made in California by increasing the cap on the market development payments for the production of glass bottles in California to promote a circular economy.

SEC. 2.

Section 14549.7 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

14549.7.

(a) In order to develop California markets for glass beverage containers collected for recycling in the state, the department may, subject to the availability of funds, pay a market development payment pursuant to this section to a glass beverage container manufacturer who purchases recycled glass collected within this state for use in manufacturing new beverage containers in this state.

(b) The department shall make a market development payment to a glass beverage container manufacturer in accordance with this section only if the empty glass beverage containers are collected, washed, and processed and are used in manufacturing new glass beverage containers in the state.

(c) The department shall determine the amount of the market development payment, which may be set at different levels, but the payment shall not exceed one hundred fifty dollars ($150) per ton. In setting the amount of the market development payment, the department shall consider all of the following:

(1) The minimum funding level needed to encourage in-state washing and processing of empty glass beverage containers collected for recycling in this state.

(2) The minimum funding level needed to encourage in-state manufacturing that utilizes empty glass beverage containers collected for recycling in this state.

(3) The total amount of funds projected to be available for glass market development payments, and the desire to maintain the minimum funding level needed throughout the year.

(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 3.

Section 14581 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

14581.

(a) Subject to the availability of funds and in accordance with subdivision (b), the department shall expend the moneys set aside in the fund, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 14580, for the purposes of this section in the following manner:

(1) For each fiscal year, the department may expend the amount necessary to make the required handling fee payment pursuant to Section 14585.

(2) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) shall be expended annually for payments for curbside programs and neighborhood dropoff programs pursuant to Section 14549.6.

(3) (A) Ten million five hundred thousand dollars ($10,500,000) may be expended annually for payments of five thousand dollars ($5,000) to cities and ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for payments to counties for beverage container recycling and litter cleanup activities, or the department may calculate the payments to counties and cities on a per capita basis, and may pay whichever amount is greater, for those activities.

(B) Eligible activities for the use of these funds may include, but are not necessarily limited to, support for new or existing curbside programs, neighborhood dropoff programs, public education promoting beverage container recycling, litter prevention, and cleanup, cooperative regional efforts among two or more cities or counties, or both, or other beverage container recycling programs.

(D) To receive these funds, a city, county, or city and county shall fill out and return a funding request form to the department. The form shall specify the beverage container recycling or litter reduction activities for which the funds will be used.

(E) The department shall annually prepare and distribute a funding request form to each city, county, or city and county. The form shall specify the amount of beverage container recycling and litter cleanup funds for which the jurisdiction is eligible. The form shall not exceed one double-sided page in length, and may be submitted electronically. If a city, county, or city and county does not return the funding request form within 90 days of receipt of the form from the department, the city, county, or city and county is not eligible to receive the funds for that funding cycle.

(F) For the purposes of this paragraph, per capita population shall be based on the population of the incorporated area of a city or city and county and the unincorporated area of a county. The department may withhold payment to any city, county, or city and county that has prohibited the siting of a supermarket site, caused a supermarket site to close its business, or adopted a land use policy that restricts or prohibits the siting of a supermarket site within its jurisdiction.

(4) One million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) may be expended annually in the form of grants for beverage container recycling and litter reduction programs.

(5) (A) The department shall expend the amount necessary to pay the processing payment established pursuant to Section 14575. The department shall establish separate processing fee accounts in the fund for each beverage container material type for which a processing payment and processing fee are calculated pursuant to Section 14575, or for which a processing payment is calculated pursuant to Section 14575 and a voluntary artificial scrap value is calculated pursuant to Section 14575.1, into which account shall be deposited both of the following:

(i) All amounts paid as processing fees for each beverage container material type pursuant to Section 14575.

(ii) Funds equal to the difference between the amount in clause (i) and the amount of the processing payments established in subdivision (b) of Section 14575, and adjusted pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of, and subdivision (f) of, Section 14575, to reduce the processing fee to the level provided in subdivision (e) of Section 14575, or to reflect the agreement by a willing purchaser to pay a voluntary artificial scrap value pursuant to Section 14575.1.

(B) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the moneys in each processing fee account are hereby continuously appropriated to the department for expenditure without regard to fiscal years, for purposes of making processing payments pursuant to Section 14575.

(6) Up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be expended annually by the department for the purposes of undertaking a statewide public education and information campaign aimed at promoting increased recycling of beverage containers.

(7) Up to fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) may be expended annually by the department for quality incentive payments for empty glass beverage containers pursuant to Section 14549.1.

(8) (A) For the 2019–20 fiscal year to the 2025–26 fiscal year, inclusive, the department may expend funds for market development payments to reclaimers and product manufacturers, pursuant to Section 14549.2.

(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the definitions in subdivision (a) of Section 14549.2 apply.

(9) (A) For the 2019–20 fiscal year to the 2025–26 fiscal year, inclusive, the department may expend up to a total of five million dollars ($5,000,000) to support the pilot projects created pursuant to Section 14571.9.

(B) Taking into consideration the recent closure of many of California’s recycling centers, the Legislature finds and declares that the appropriation provided for in Chapter 793 of the Statutes of 2019 is necessary in order to ensure the continued support of, and to bolster, consumer redemption opportunities.

(10) The department may expend up to four million dollars ($4,000,000) annually for glass processing incentive grants authorized pursuant to Section 14543.

(11) The department may expend up to four million dollars ($4,000,000) annually for empty glass beverage container grants authorized pursuant to Section 14544.

(12) The department may expend up to one million dollars ($1,000,000) annually for grants to facilitate the transportation of empty glass beverage containers authorized pursuant to Section 14545.

(13) (A) (i) The department may expend up to sixty million dollars ($60,000,000) annually for glass market development payments for glass authorized pursuant to Section 14549.7.

(ii) This subparagraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2028.

(B) (i) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 14580, upon appropriation by the Legislature specifically for purposes of this subparagraph, on and after January 1, 2028, the department may expend up to twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) annually for glass market development payments authorized pursuant to Section 14549.7.

(ii) This subparagraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2030.

(b) (1) If the department determines, pursuant to a review made pursuant to Section 14556, that there may be inadequate funds to pay the payments required by this division, the department shall immediately notify the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature regarding the inadequacy.

(2) On or before 180 days, but not less than 80 days, after the notice is sent pursuant to paragraph (1), the department may reduce or eliminate expenditures, or both, from the funds as necessary, according to the procedure set forth in subdivision (c).

(c) If the department determines that there are insufficient funds to make the payments specified pursuant to this section and Section 14575, the department shall reduce all payments proportionally.

(d) Before making an expenditure pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (a), the department shall convene an advisory committee consisting of representatives of the beverage industry, beverage container manufacturers, environmental organizations, the recycling industry, nonprofit organizations, and retailers to advise the department on the most cost-effective and efficient method of the expenditure of the funds for that education and information campaign.