House Bill 1422

AN ACT TO CREATE THE "GLASS BOTTLE RECYCLING ACT"; TO REQUIRE THAT EACH GLASS BEVERAGE CONTAINER HAS A REFUND VALUE OF FIVE CENTS; TO REQUIRE A RECYCLING CENTER OR LANDFILL TO ACCEPT BEVERAGE CONTAINERS WITH THE REQUIRED REFUND VALUE AND PAY A CERTAIN AMOUNT TO THE CONSUMER AND TO ALLOCATE A CERTAIN AMOUNT TO THE STATE; TO ALLOW A RECYCLING CENTER OR LANDFILL TO REFUSE TO REFUND BEVERAGE CONTAINERS WITHOUT THE REQUIRED REFUND VALUE; TO PROVIDE THAT A LEGISLATIVE STUDY COMMITTEE SHALL BE CREATED TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and cited as the "Glass Bottle Recycling Act."

SECTION 2. As used in this act, unless the context requires otherwise:

(a) "Beverage" means beer or other malt beverages and mineral waters, soda water and similar carbonated soft drinks in liquid form and intended for human consumption.

(b) "Beverage container" means the individual, separate, sealed glass bottle or jar which has a body consisting primarily of glass that contains a beverage.

(d) "Consumer" means every person who purchases a beverage in a beverage container for use or consumption.

(e) "Dealer" means every person in this state who engages in the sale of beverages in beverage containers to a consumer.

(f) "Distributor" means every person who engages in the sale of beverages in beverage containers to a dealer in this state, including any manufacturer who engages in such sales.

(g) "In this state" means within the exterior limits of the State of Mississippi and includes all territory within these limits owned by or ceded to the United States of America.

(h) "Manufacturer" means every person bottling, canning or otherwise filling beverage containers for sale to distributors or dealers.

(i) "Place of business of a dealer" means the location at which a dealer sells or offers for sale beverages in beverage containers to consumers.

(j) "Use or consumption" includes the exercise of any right or power over a beverage incident to the ownership thereof, other than the sale or the keeping or retention of a beverage for the purposes of sale.

(k) "Recycling center" means an operation which is certified by the department and which accepts from consumers, and pays or provides the authorized refund value for, empty beverage containers intended to be recycled.

(l) "Landfill" means a controlled area of land upon which solid waste is deposited, and is compacted and covered with no on-site burning of wastes, and so located, contoured, drained and operated so that it will not cause an adverse effect on public health or the environment.

(m) "Voucher" means any document that shows the consumer's name and the total value of beverage containers given to a landfill or recycling center.

SECTION 3. Every beverage container sold or offered for sale in this state by a dealer shall have a refund value of Five Cents (5¢).

SECTION 4. Every beverage container sold or offered for sale in this state by a dealer shall indicate clearly by embossing or by a stamp or by a label or other method securely affixed to the beverage container the refund value of the container.

SECTION 5. (1) A recycling center or landfill shall accept from a consumer an empty beverage container. The center or landfill shall give to the consumer a voucher in an amount equal to Three Cents (3¢) per pound for each pound of beverage containers received and shall allocate the remainder of the refund value ascribed to each container to the State of Mississippi. On the last day of each month, the center or landfill shall transmit to the State Treasurer, for deposit into the State General Fund, a sum representing the aggregate amount of the portion of the refund value allocated to the state.

(2) A dealer shall accept from a consumer the voucher issued from a recycling center or landfill and pay to the consumer the amount specified on the voucher.

(3) Any voucher received by a dealer may be deposited to the commission and the commission shall pay the dealer the total value of all vouchers received from the dealer.

SECTION 6. (1) Any recycling center or landfill may refuse to accept from a consumer any empty beverage container which does not state a refund value as established by this act.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to beverage containers designed for beverages with a brand name permanently marked on the container which on the effective date of this act had a refund of Five Cents (5¢).

SECTION 7. (1) To promote the use in this state of reusable beverage containers of uniform design, and to facilitate the return of containers for reuse as a beverage container, the commission shall certify beverage containers which satisfy the requirements of this section.

(2) A beverage container shall be certified if:

(a) It is reusable as a beverage container by more than one (1) manufacturer in the ordinary course of business; and

(b) More than one (1) manufacturer will in the ordinary course of business accept the beverage container for reuse as a beverage container and pay the refund value of the container.

(3) A beverage container shall not be certified under this section if by reason of its shape or design, or by reason of words or symbols permanently inscribed thereon, whether by engraving, embossing, painting or other permanent method, it is reusable as a beverage container in the ordinary course of business only by a manufacturer of a beverage sold under a specific brand name.
SECTION 8. (1) Unless an application for certification under Section 7 of this act is denied by the commission within sixty (60) days after the filing of the application, the beverage container shall be deemed certified.

(2) The commission may review at any time certification of a beverage container. If after such review, with written notice and hearing afforded to the person who filed the application for certification under Section 7 of this act, the commission determines the container is no longer qualified for certification, it shall withdraw certification.

(3) Withdrawal of certification shall be effective not less than thirty (30) days after written notice to the person who filed the application for certification under Section 7 of this act and to the manufacturers referred to in subsection (2) of Section 7 of this act.

SECTION 9. (1) To facilitate the return of empty beverage containers and to serve dealers of beverages, any person may establish a recycling center, subject to the approval of the Mississippi State Tax Commission, at which consumers may return empty beverage containers and receive payment for the beverage containers.

(2) Application for approval of a recycling center shall be filed with the commission. The application shall state the name and address of the person responsible for the establishment and operation of the recycling center, the kind and brand names of the beverage containers which will be accepted at the recycling center. The application shall include such additional information as the commission may require.

(3) The commission shall approve a recycling center if it finds that the recycling center will provide a convenient service to consumers for the return of empty beverage containers. The order of the commission approving a recycling center shall state the kind and brand names of empty beverage containers which the recycling center must accept. The order may contain such other provisions to insure the recycling center will provide a convenient service to the public as the commission may determine.

(4) The commission may review at any time approval of a recycling center. After written notice to the person responsible for the establishment and operation of the recycling center, the commission may, after hearing, withdraw approval of a recycling center or the commission finds there has not been compliance with its order approving the recycling center, or the recycling center no longer provides a convenient service to the public.

SECTION 10. (1) Any person who violates this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than thirty (30) days or by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or both.

(2) In addition to the penalty prescribed by subsection (1) of this section, the commission may revoke or suspend the license of any person who willfully violates this act who is required by state law to have a license.

SECTION 11. (1) A legislative study committee shall cause to be conducted a study of the operation of this act that shall include, but not be limited to, an analysis of:

(a) Its economic impact on persons licensed under current state law who engage in the nonalcoholic beverage manufacturing business, on persons engaged in the business of manufacturing beer and other malt beverages and on persons engaged in the business of manufacturing beverage containers in complying with the provisions of this act.

(b) The problems, if any, incurred in the distribution, sale and return of beverage containers subject to the provisions of this act.

(c) The effectiveness of the provisions of this act in the reduction of the incidence of the littering by beverage containers in this state.

(d) The costs incurred in the enforcement of the provisions of this act.

(2) Before January 1, 2007, the legislative study committee shall prepare and submit to both houses of the Legislature a report of its findings made pursuant to subsection (1) of this section and its recommendations with respect to any legislative proposal considered by it to be necessary as the result of the study conducted as required by subsection (1) of this section.

SECTION 12. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2004.