Michigan | Bottle Deposit Law

Michigan introduced their bottle bill, the Bottle Deposit Law, in 1976. Like other bottle bills in the United States, the Bottle Deposit Law has undergone a number of changes since its launch in the 1970s—see the full change history here.

Some Michigan legislators and environmental groups have proposed creating a dedicated hotline to report instances of bottle bill fraud—such as retailers selling out-of-state containers.

What’s Included?

Michigan’s bottle bill covers and exempts the following beverages:

Beverages Covered: soft drinks and soda water, carbonated natural and mineral water and non-alcoholic carbonated beverages, beer and other malt beverages, mixed wine and spirit drinks, and kombucha.

Containers Covered: glass, paper, plastic, and metal containers that are less than a gallon.

Exemptions: not clear—but wine, dairy and milk products, plant-based milk beverages, and others are not present in the covered section.

What’s the Refund Value?

The refund value for all covered containers in Michigan’s bottle bill is ten cents USD. 

Impact of DRS in Michigan

When compared to other states with bottle bills, Michigan is relatively average at recycling PET, aluminum, and glass, but that is not the same story when compared to the national average.

Michigan's PET recycling rate for 2018 of 29% is 9.96% higher than the national average (19.04%). 

Michigan's aluminum recycling rate for 2018 of 76% is 44.72% higher than the national average (31.28%).

Michigan’s glass recycling rate for 2018 of 54% is 28.14% higher than the national average (25.86%).

[data from 50 States of Recycling 2.0 by Ball Corporation & Eunomia]

A Tomra study highlights that Michigan's bottle bill redemption rate was 73% in 2023—the third highest of the US states with bottle bills in 2023 / 2024.

Learn more about Michigan’s Bottle Deposit Law here. 

Read about the bottle bills in the nine other US states here.