LANSING, Mich — Those with cans and bottles piling up at home will soon have more options for returns and 10-cent deposits.
The Michigan Department of Treasury announced Monday the beginning of “Phase 2” for bottle returns, which will be implemented starting Oct. 5. In this phase, all grocery stores, supermarkets, convenience stores and gas stations with reverse vending machines must reopen their bottle return facilities and resume collecting returnable bottles and cans.
Other retailers with different kinds of return facilities can also reopen at their own discretion. These facilities include those staffed by employees that require more than minimal person-to-person contact.
Retailers that reopen their return facilities are required by law to comply with all state-mandated safety protocols and restrictions.
Additionally, the treasury provided the following steps, which retailers may take at their own discretion:
- Limit the number of beverage containers that may be returned by a single individual per day to a deposit refund amount of $25, as outlined in state law.
- Establish special or limited hours of operation for return facilities.
- Limit the number of available and operating reverse vending machines.
- Periodically close return facilities as needed for cleaning and supply management.
- Implement other procedures or restrictions as necessary to promote safety, efficiency, or both.
Under Phase 1 for bottle returns, which started June 15, “retailers with return facilities located at the front of the store or housed in a separate area and serviced exclusively by reverse vending machines were required to reopen,” according to the treasury. These services required minimal or no person-to-person contact.
Currently, only the first two phases have been outlined and provided to the public. The treasury says further guidance regarding additional phases will be issued in the near future.
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