Late last night, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 1013, which includes spirits products in the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act otherwise known as the “bottle bill.”
“While spirits bottles are already recycled at high rate in the state of California, it is our hope the new law’s incentive for consumers to participate will help increase that rate even more,” said Adam Smith, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States Vice President of State Government Relations. “We were proud to work with legislators to ensure the goals of the bill were achieved, while affording reasonable timelines and labeling flexibility for producers. The spirits industry is committed to promoting sustainability and protecting our environmental and natural resources.”
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) championed this inclusion in an effort to enhance recycling outcomes, improve resource utilization and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by enhancing the availability and quality of recycled glass cullet.
In support of wine and spirits businesses and to ensure compliance with consumer notification, SB1013 has an exemption for wine and distilled spirits manufacturers from the requirement to provide samples of proposed labels or beverage containers to CalRecycle for approval.