Beverage containers: recycled glass: market development.

Assembly Member Ransom’s proposal would authorize a glass market development program that pays California glass container manufacturers to use locally collected recycled glass for in-state production, with payments capped at up to 150 per ton and a sunset date of January 1, 2030, within the framework of the state’s Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act.

The bill requires in-state collection, washing, and processing of empty glass containers and in-state manufacturing of new containers to qualify for the market development payment. It directs CalRecycle to determine the payment amount with consideration for minimum funding to sustain in-state washing/processing and in-state manufacturing, as well as the total funds available. Funding for these payments is structured in two phases: an initial pathway providing up to 60 million dollars annually through January 1, 2028, and a second pathway starting January 1, 2028 that may provide up to 20 million dollars annually through 2030, contingent on legislative appropriation. The authority to make glass market development payments would be repealed on January 1, 2030.

In addition, the bill reorganizes the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund’s expenditures to cover processing payments, curbside and neighborhood drop-off programs, city and county grants for beverage container recycling and litter reduction, public education and information campaigns, quality incentive payments for empty glass containers, and the new glass market development payments. It introduces local-jurisdiction funding mechanics—cities and counties must submit funding-request forms on a timely basis, with per-capita calculations and the possibility of withholding funds if a jurisdiction has policies or actions that impede supermarket siting. Before funding an education campaign, the department would convene an advisory committee representing industry, manufacturers, environmental groups, recycling interests, nonprofits, and retailers to advise on cost-effective expenditure.

The bill foregrounds findings about glass sustainability and in-state competitiveness, pairing the in-state use of cullet with a time-limited, policy-driven mechanism to expand California-made glass bottles. It maintains ongoing authorities for processing payments and other recycling-program expenditures while introducing new constraints and oversight for the glass market development program, including a sunset and a two-phase funding structure that depends on annual appropriations and fund balances. The broader policy context remains the state’s framework for supporting recycling infrastructure, consumer education, and litter reduction under the existing act.