California to add new recycling sites for CRV redemption

CalRecycle has announced $131 million in new funding to expand beverage container redemption options.

The Beverage Container Redemption Innovation Grant Program supports projects that make it faster and easier for residents to redeem their California Redemption Value (CRV) deposits, CalRecycle says.

“California is bringing redemption to more communities and innovating new, hassle-free methods to get CRV deposits back to Californians,” CalRecycle Director Zoe Heller says. “These reforms are designed to make redeeming your CRV deposits just as easy as paying them to reuse more materials.”

The additional funding is now available for a range of projects, including:

• $55 million for recycling centers to build or expand redemption options to include reverse vending machines, bag drop or mobile recycling programs;
• $40 million for dealer cooperative nonprofits to redeem on behalf of beverage retailers using reverse vending machines, bag drop or mobile redemption options;
• $21 million for beverage retailers to add reverse vending machine redemption at their stores; and
• $15 million for qualifying tribes to build or expand redemption options to include reverse vending machines, bag drop or mobile recycling programs.

Application deadlines vary by grant cycle and are posted on CalRecycle’s Redemption Innovation Grant webpage.

The first round of redemption innovation grant projects, awarded in fall 2024, are projected to add nearly 200 new recycling sites across 27 California counties. Grant agreements for all 24 projects are now in place, and operational timelines vary by project.

In addition, new retailer takeback rules started Jan. 1, 2025, for larger beverage retailers in areas not served by a recycling center. These rules make it possible for retailers to set up a system to redeem beverage container deposits in-store or create or join a nonprofit cooperative on their own, or with other retailers, to give customers ways to redeem. CalRecycle says each dealer cooperative will benefit from state funding support for each recycled container and flexibility to offer reverse vending machines, mobile recycling or bag-drop recycling to customers.