Have you seen Oakley Otter? He is the campaign mascot for 3RC for DC – the Return, Refund and Recycle Coalition for DC (3rcfordc.org). This coalition of over 30 local organizations is promoting a bottle deposit-return program for the District. Otters are indicators of healthy rivers and were once abundant in the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers.
Bottle deposit-return programs were common across the US when beverage companies sold their products in refillable glass bottles. Consumers paid a deposit on beverage bottles which could be redeemed when returned to a redemption center. Some organizations and young entrepreneurs would collect and redeem the bottles to raise funds or make some spending money. As plastic bottles became more popular, beverage companies dismantled bottle deposit programs, creating a huge new source of litter across the US.
While aluminum, #1 PET and #2 HDPE plastics, and glass beverage containers are recyclable, of the 1.7 million beverage containers purchased across DC on any given day, 75 percent are not recycled, and contaminate our streets, sidewalks, and waterways. The Anacostia Watershed is one of only three regulated for trash in the United States. DC and parts of Maryland must meet the trash reduction targets under the Clean Water Act, and failure to do so can result in fines of up to $64,000 a day. With bans and fees on plastic bags now in place, recyclable beverage containers make up the bulk of the waste in the Anacostia and across the District.
Lora Nunn, a Ward 7 resident and a co-lead of 3RCforDC notes, “DC waterways are much cleaner than they were even 10 years ago, but budget constraints are reducing funds for these clean-up programs. We can’t backslide against all the progress we’ve made. Studies show that bottle bill states reduce beverage container litter by between 69-to 84 percent”.
The Recycling Refund and Litter Reduction Amendment Act of 2025, otherwise known as “The Bottle Bill,” was introduced by 11 of 13 DC Councilmembers in January 2025. The bill is currently working its way through the DC Council, and would place a 10-cent deposit on all recyclable glass, plastic, and aluminum beverage containers sold in the District. The deposit would be redeemable at locations across DC.
In October 2025, 222 witnesses submitted testimony on the bill at a hearing held by the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development. The bill is now with the Committee on Transportation and the Environment (CTE) where Committee Chair and Ward 6 Councilmember Chair Charles Allen (D) is consulting with bill opponents and supporters. Opponents include business associations, restaurants, and hotels who say the bill will create yet another bureaucratic and economic burden. Supporters say that placing a value on beverage containers will reduce trash and recycling hauling costs for businesses and create a cost savings.
In July, revisions to the bill were discussed at a CTE roundtable. Hotels and restaurants as well as businesses of less than 2000 sq.ft. will be exempt from establishing redemption centers on their premises. The mechanics of the redemption process and methods to ensure that reimbursements are given only on beverage containers purchased in DC were also discussed. Some are firmly against the bill. Brendan Williams-Kief of the DC Association of Beverage Alcohol Wholesalers states, “There is no version of this proposal that we would support.” But some local businesses see progress. Jordan Cotton of Cotton&Reed Rum Distillers notes, “The bill as discussed at the roundtable made huge strides toward lowering the burden on small producers relative to earlier drafts, but there were a couple remaining concerns that I hope can be ironed out going forward.” Mary Quillian, owner of Mr. Henry’s, isn’t opposed to the bill, but she feels it will cost money to implement it. She notes, “It’s just one more thing we’re going to have to deal with. I just don’t think a bottle bill should be a priority right now”.
It’s Been Tried Before
This isn’t DC’s first attempt at a bottle deposit bill. DC resident Jim McCarthy co-led a legislative effort in 1982. The beverage industry rallied against the bill, and as Council support waned, advocates took the movement to the people as Initiative 28. According to McCarthy, the industry outspent bottle deposit advocates 23:1. Philip Pannell, now DC Democratic National Committeeman, was a Ward 8 ANC Commissioner in 1987. He supported the bottle bill initiative which he now describes as “the most acrimonious campaign” he has ever seen and one that was “racialized to the detriment of the District.” “The beverage industry focused on DC’s Black population. They paid Black clergy to preach against the bill. They said that collecting bottles and cans could lead to more squalor in their homes. The AIDS epidemic was just beginning, and the opposition even insinuated that people could catch AIDS if they touched the cans and bottles they collected!” The initiative failed 55%-45%.
Fast forward 40 years, and the beverage industry is again outspending bottle bill advocates with text messages, social media, signs and a website (dcdirtybottlebill.com/) that claims that the bill will make DC neighborhoods less safe, and increase costs for DC consumers, among others. But Allen is confident that the bill will pass. “This year, DC will pay about $14 million in public tax dollars to haul and burn residents’ trash and recycling. Millions more will be spent on trash cleanup of our roads, rivers, and parks. Every day I walk in my neighborhood, I count literally dozens of cans and bottles left on the ground. Instead of continuing to perpetuate the status quo, a bottle bill program will save money and clean up our streets and rivers like in other states. We’ve worked for months to engage residents, small businesses, environmental advocates, and industry experts about the bill as it was proposed and make the changes that are needed to make it work for DC. This fall, the Council will move forward a feasible and effective bottle deposit legislation that will work for DC small businesses, DC residents, and DC’s environment.” And, just maybe, real otter sightings will become more common in DC’s rivers.
Catherine Plume is a lifelong environmentalist and a 25 year+ DC resident.
