Oregon’s landmark 1971 legislation that established the bottle bill was the very first law regarding container waste in the United States. It was the result of hikers and backpackers who were sick of encountering container waste in the forests of Oregon. While British Columbia enacted the very first such bill a year earlier and Vermont passed an abortive attempt to outlaw disposable containers in the early 1950s, Oregon’s bottle bill was to become the model by which several other states and provinces would model their own laws in the next decade.
It has proven to be enormously successful. While states without such bills average about 25% rates of recycling of such containers, Oregon’s rate has held steady at about 90% for over three decades.
Oregon’s law focuses on the specific industries of soda pop and beer, regardless of the type of container used. In 2007, the state was also among the first to add plastic water bottles to the list of beverages covered under the bill.
