The Return of Plastic Bottle Recycling in Connecticut Ahead of Other States

In March, Connecticut suspended the legal requirement that retailers redeem containers covered under the state’s container deposit program, citing the COVID-19 impact on retailers. Eight other states took similar action. Last month, Connecticut began reversing that policy, taking a phased-in approach to resuming redemption activities.

Details of Connecticut’s phase-in which began on May 20, according to the state’s Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, continue to be posted at retail locations and, depending on location, include a daily limit on the number of containers and limited hours to facilitate cleaning, as well as appropriate social distancing requirements and the wearing of masks.  Full operations, although revised due to the ongoing pandemic precautions, resumed in early June.

Equipment supplier Tomra North America, with Connecticut operations based in Shelton, recently offered a look at how the process has been playing out in Connecticut. TOMRA is a world leader in the field of reverse vending, with over 82,000 installations across more than 60 markets worldwide. The company’s website notes that consumers go through almost 1.4 trillion beverage containers every year, representing a vast amount of packaging material that can be collected and reused or recycled.

In the first few days of the redemption reopening in Connecticut, Tomra, which manufactures reverse vending machines used in container redemption locations across the country, had representatives visit 199 retailers across the state to see how the process was going, Plastics Recycling Update reported this week.

During the suspension, more than 90% of retailers closed their bottle rooms and stopped redeeming containers, Tomra wrote in a statement to Plastics Recycling Update. There were 15 redemption centers left operating in the state, leaving many customers with no feasible option for redemption during the two-month period.

Tomra’s reverse vending machines were reportedly collecting about a million containers per day in Connecticut before the state action in March.  Retail redemption volumes were down 95% during the suspension, according to Tomra officials.  When the phased reopening began on May 20, Tomra saw its collection volume get back to that level within just two days.  Lines of people waiting to recycle are now not uncommon, as social distancing guidelines continue to limit the number of people permitted at some locations where machines are side-by-side.

"Resumption of redemption services at retail locations is very important, as recycling is a vital component of Connecticut's solid waste management system, and deposit container redemption provides recyclers with a high-quality feedstock while reducing litter and greenhouse gas emissions," DEEP’s website pointed out.

“One of the primary reasons regulators instituted the redemption enforcement suspension in the first place was to provide more flexibility to retailers who were finding it hard to handle the increased panic buying, stock shelves, conduct enhanced cleaning protocols and manage redemption operations,” Tomra wrote in a statement provided to Plastics Recycling Update. “It has been three months since the pandemic set in in earnest and we have seen retailers adjust to the new shopping patterns with measures like reducing store hours to allow time to stock shelves, hiring staff with premium pay, etc.”

Company representatives noted that stores dedicating staff to monitor and provide customer service during the initial reopening helped the process go forward without major incidents, even in busier retail locations. They also noted that it was a good move for the state to restart redemption a few days before the busy Memorial Day weekend, giving stores the chance to work out kinks before a flood of customers.  All in all, Tomra officials described the Connecticut reopening as “surprisingly smooth.” DEEP maintains a list of redemption centers in Connecticut on its website.

Recycling bottle deposit programs have resumed in Maine and New York, and changes imposed during the height of coronavirus have been partially reversed in Massachusetts and Oregon.

Tomra compiled a list of best practices for redemption locations reopening during the pandemic. These include limiting occupancy of the redemption area to one or two people, requiring masks for customers and employees, encouraging six-foot social distancing, regular cleaning and disinfecting, signs promoting all these habits, and more.  Tomra also introduced a “touchless recycling” feature on its reverse vending machines, eliminating the need for consumers to touch a screen on the machine during the process.

Earlier this year, prior to the pandemic, state officials were considering an overhaul to Connecticut’s decades-old recycling framework, but that effort was pre-empted when the legislature adjourned without reconvening after shutting down in mid-March.  It is not known whether another effort will be initiated in 2021.