Arkansas State Rep. Vivian Flowers proposed a bill, HB1771, March 11 for the state to establish The Arkansas Litter Reduction and Deposit Beverage Container Recycling Act.
The act would create a new special revenue fund, the Deposit Beverage Container Fund, consisting of monies from sources including fines collected through the act, government funding and donations to the fund. The money would go to refund values for deposit beverage containers redeemed by certified redemption centers and funding the recycling program, providing training to redemption centers or certified redemption center depots, educating the public about the program, and providing grants for solid waste management, recycling and litter control.
Consumers would pay a deposit fee of 5 cents on each deposit beverage container manufactured or imported into Arkansas which they could redeem by returning the container to a redemption center. Beverage distributors would pay an overhead support fee of one cent per bottle.
