By Andrew Sheeler, SACRAMENTO BEE – CAPITOL ALERT

August 18, 2020

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article245018275.html

California Gov. Gavin Newsom should not give retailers any further exemptions from their duty to refund bottle and can deposits, argues the nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog. 

The group penned a letter to the governor warning that the state’s bottle deposit system “is on the edge of collapse.” 

“It is up to you to preserve and strengthen the bottle deposit system, not allow it to be degraded further by again exempting retail stores from taking back empties in store and refunding deposits as the law requires. By extending the retailer exemption you risk irreparable damage to the bottle deposit system,” the letter reads in part. 

The group said that Newsom’s exemptions “are a disaster that unnecessarily and severely restrict access to refunds of consumer bottle deposits totaling hundreds of millions of dollars annually.” 

You can read the full letter here.