SECTIONS 14502-14529.7 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 14502-14529.7

14502. Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in
this chapter govern the construction of this division.

14503. "Aluminum beverage container" means a beverage container
which consists primarily of aluminum.

14503.5. "Average monthly volume" means the average number of empty
beverage containers per month received by a certified recycling
center.

14503.6. "Beneficiating processor" means any person certified by
the department as a processor who also beneficiates purchased cullet
so that it is furnace ready for glass container manufacturers,
consistent with prevailing standards in the manufacturing industry.
Cullet shall be deemed furnace ready when it has been cleansed, is
free of nonglass contaminants, and has been crushed or otherwise
processed in such a manner as to be acceptable without further
processing by the purchasing glass container manufacturer.

14504. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), "beverage" means
any of the following products if those products are in liquid,
ready-to-drink form, and are intended for human consumption:
(1) Beer and other malt beverages.
(2) Wine and distilled spirit coolers.
(3) Carbonated water, including soda and carbonated mineral water.
(4) Noncarbonated water, including noncarbonated mineral water.
(5) Carbonated soft drinks.
(6) Noncarbonated soft drinks and "sport" drinks.
(7) Except as provided in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b),
noncarbonated fruit drinks that contain any percentage of fruit
juice.
(8) Coffee and tea drinks.
(9) Carbonated fruit drinks.
(10) Vegetable juice in beverage containers of 16 ounces or less.
(b) "Beverage" does not include any of the following:
(1) Any product sold in a container that is not an aluminum
beverage container, a glass container, a plastic beverage container,
or a bimetal container.
(2) Wine, or wine from which alcohol has been removed, in whole or
in part, whether or not sparkling or carbonated.
(3) Milk, medical food, or infant formula.
(4) One hundred percent fruit juice in containers that are 46
ounces or more in volume.
(c) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) "Infant formula" means any liquid food described or sold as an
alternative for human milk for the feeding of infants.
(2) (A) "Medical food" means a food or beverage that is formulated
to be consumed, or administered enterally under the supervision of a
physician, and that is intended for specific dietary management of
diseases or health conditions for which distinctive nutritional
requirements, based on recognized scientific principles, are
established by medical evaluation.
(B) A "medical food" is a specially formulated and processed
product, for the partial or exclusive feeding of a patient by means
of oral intake or enteral feeding by tube, and is not a naturally
occurring foodstuff used in its natural state.
(C) "Medical food" includes any product that meets the definition
of "medical food" in the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21
U.S.C. Sec. 360ee (b)(3).
(3) "Noncarbonated soft drink" means a nonalcoholic, noncarbonated
naturally or artificially flavored water containing sugar or
sweetener or trace amounts of various elements from both natural and
synthetic sources.

14505. "Beverage container" means the individual, separate bottle,
can, jar, carton, or other receptacle, however denominated, in which
a beverage is sold, and which is constructed of metal, glass, or
plastic, or other material, or any combination of these materials.
"Beverage container" does not include cups or other similar open or
loosely sealed receptacles.

14506. "Beverage manufacturer" means any person who bottles, cans,
or otherwise fills beverage containers, or imports filled beverage
containers, for sale to distributors, dealers, or consumers.

14506.3. "Bimetal container" means a beverage container which
consists of one or more metals and which is composed primarily of
steel.

14506.5. "Commingled" means a mix of empty beverage containers, as
defined in Section 14512, and all other containers of the same
material type.

14506.7. "Commingled rate" means the ratio of empty beverage
containers, as defined in Section 14512, to all other containers of
the same material type, as determined by the department.

14507.5. (a) "Community Conservation Corps" means a nonprofit
public benefit corporation formed or operating pursuant to Part 2
(commencing with Section 5110) of Division 2 of Title 1 of the
Corporations Code, or an agency operated by a city, county, or city
and county, that is certified by the California Conservation Corps as
meeting all of the following criteria:
(1) The corps is organized in the form of supervised work crews
and selects young men and women for participation on the basis of
motivation for hard work, personal development, and public service,
without regard to their prior employment or educational background,
and consistent with Section 14402. Participation shall be for a
period of one year, and may be extended.
(2) The corps' program is based upon a highly disciplined work
experience, includes an educational component, and is designed to
develop corpsmembers' character and civic consciousness through
rigorous work on public projects. The educational component of the
corps' program includes enrollment in a vocational education program,
public or charter high school, or postsecondary community college.
(3) The corps compensates corpsmembers at not less than the
federal minimum wage, and provides corpsmembers assistance in
obtaining permanent employment following their participation in the
corps program.
(4) The corps engages in recycling and litter abatement projects
as well as projects that accomplish the conservationist and other
purposes described in subdivisions (a) to (h), inclusive, of Section
14300, and that assist agencies of local government and other
nonprofit community organizations in developing, rehabilitating, and
restoring parklands, recreational facilities, and other community
resources.
(5) The corps consists of an average annual enrollment of not less
than 50 corpsmembers between 18 and 25 years of age. In determining
the average annual enrollment of a community conservation corps for
the purposes of subdivision (a) of Section 14581, the California
Conservation Corps shall not include special corpsmembers, as
described in Section 14303, who are employed by a community
conservation corps.
(b) The California Conservation Corps shall evaluate a community
conservation corps for the purpose of determining its eligibility for
certification, pursuant to this section, after it has completed 12
months of continuous operation, and annually thereafter.

14508. "Consumer" means every person who, for his or her use or
consumption, purchases a beverage in a beverage container from a
dealer. "Consumer" includes, but is not limited to, a lodging,
eating, or drinking establishment, and soft drink vending machines.

14509. "Container manufacturer" means any person who produces
beverage containers for filling by beverage manufacturers, including
any person who imports these beverage containers from outside of this
state for filling by beverage manufacturers.

14509.3. "Cullet" means scrap glass that is derived from postfilled
food, drink, or beverage container glass produced or imported for
sale in the state.

14509.4. "Convenience zone" means either of the following:
(a) The area within a one-half mile radius of a supermarket.
(b) The area designated by the department pursuant to Section
14571.5.

14509.5. "Curbside program" means a recycling program which meets
all of the following criteria:
(a) The program picks up empty beverage containers from individual
or multiple family residences, or both, and the empty beverage
containers are separated from waste materials prior to being picked
up.
(b) The program is operated by, or pursuant to a contract with, a
city, county, or other public agency, or is acknowledged, in writing,
by a city, county, or other public agency.
(c) The program accepts empty beverage containers from consumers
with the intent to recycle them, but does not pay the refund value.

14510. "Dealer" means a retail establishment which offers the sale
of beverages in beverage containers to consumers. However, any
lodging, eating, or drinking establishment, or soft drink vending
machine operator who engages in the sale of beverages in beverage
containers to consumers shall not be deemed a dealer for the purposes
of this division, except that these sales are subject to Section
14560. To determine which retail establishments are dealers, the
department shall use annual or more frequent updates provided by
American Business Information, Inc., as long as the information
provided by American Business Information, Inc., is updated at least
annually.

14510.5. "Department" means the Division of Recycling in the
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.

14510.6. "Director" means the Director of Resources Recycling and
Recovery.

14511. "Distributor" means every person who engages in the sale of
beverages in beverage containers to a dealer in this state, including
any manufacturer who engages in these sales. "Distributor" includes
any person who imports beverages from outside of this state for sale
to dealers or consumers in this state.

14511.5. "Drink" means fruit juice or any other noncarbonated
drink.

14511.7. "Dropoff or collection program" means any person,
association, nonprofit corporation, church, club, or other
organization certified by the department, and that accepts or
collects empty beverage containers from consumers with the intention
to recycle them, or any waste reduction facility that separates
beverage containers from the waste stream with the intent to recycle
them. "Dropoff or collection program" does not include a certified
recycling center or curbside program.

14512. "Empty beverage container" means a beverage container which
meets all of the following requirements:
(a) Has the seal or closure installed by the manufacturer broken
or removed.
(b) Does not contain foreign materials other than the residue of
the beverage originally packaged in the beverage container by the
manufacturer.
(c) Bears the message required by Section 14561, or is a
refillable beverage container.
(d) Has a refund value established pursuant to Section 14560.

14512.5. "Food or drink packaging material" means any material
which is not a beverage container in which a food or drink is sold in
a retail establishment and the food or drink is not intended for
consumption on the seller's premises.

14512.6. "For recycling" means that an empty beverage container has
been received by a processor who has an arrangement whereby that
container will actually be recycled.

14512.7. "Fund" means the California Beverage Container Recycling
Fund established pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 14580.

14513. "Glass beverage container" means a beverage container which
has a body consisting primarily of glass.

14513.2. (a) Except as provided under Section 14549, "glass
container manufacturer" means a person who manufactures commercial
containers, whose principal component part or parts consist of virgin
glass, postfilled glass, or any combination of both, for sale in
California or for export to other states or countries.
(b) "Glass container manufacturer" includes, but is not limited
to, all commercial manufacturing operations which produce beverage
containers, food or drink packaging material made primarily of glass,
or any combination of both of those items. For beer and other malt
beverages manufactured outside the state, the container manufacturer
shall be deemed to be the person or entity named on the certificate
of compliance issued pursuant to Section 23671 of the Business and
Professions Code.

14513.3. "Glass food or drink container" means any nonbeverage
container, whose principal component part or parts consist of virgin
glass, postfilled glass, or any combination of both, in which any
food or drink is sold or offered for sale in California.

14513.4. "Handling fee" means an amount paid to an operator of a
supermarket site, a rural region recycler, as defined in Section
14525.5.1, or a nonprofit convenience zone recycler, as defined in
Section 14514.7, that is located in a convenience zone, for every
beverage container redeemed by the operator at the supermarket or
within the zone in which the supermarket site is located, by the
rural region recycler, or by the nonprofit convenience zone recycler.

14513.5. "HDPE" means a plastic beverage container labeled with a
"2" for high-density-polyethylene resin pursuant to Section 18015 and
subject to this division.

14514. "Managing employee" includes, but is not limited to, any
person who manages the operation of a facility or is authorized by
the certified operator to sign shipping reports.

14514.4.1. "Neighborhood dropoff program" means a recycling program
which meets all of the following criteria:
(a) The program is certified by the department as a dropoff or
collection program, as defined by Section 14511.7.
(b) The program has been designated by a city, county, or city and
county to provide a recycling opportunity in residential
neighborhoods specified by the city, county, or city and county.
(c) The program is located in a rural region, as identified
pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of
Section 14571.

14514.6. "Not for recycling" means that an empty beverage container
has been received by a processor who does not have an arrangement
whereby that container will actually be recycled.

14514.7. "Nonprofit convenience zone recycler" means a recycling
center that meets the criteria described in subdivision (a) or (b):
(a) The recycling center is all of the following:
(1) Operated by an organization established under Section 501(c)
or 501(d) of Title 26 of the United States Code.
(2) Certified by the department pursuant to Section 14538.
(3) Located within a convenience zone, but is not necessarily a
supermarket site.
(b) The recycling center is all of the following:
(1) Operated by an organization established under Section 501(c)
or 501(d) of Title 26 of the United States Code and has operated in
the same location for a period of not less than five years.
(2) Certified by the department pursuant to Section 14538.
(3) Located within one mile of a supermarket that is in a
convenience zone that is exempt from the requirements of subdivision
(a) of Section 14571.

14515. "Other beverage container" means a beverage container which
has a body consisting of metal, glass, plastic, other materials, or a
combination of these, but which is not an aluminum, bimetal, glass,
or plastic beverage container.

14515.1. "Out-of-state container" means a used beverage container
or used beverage container component that is not subject to Section
14560, and that is brought into this state.

14515.5. "PET container" means a plastic beverage container labeled
with a "1" pursuant to Section 18015 and subject to this division.

14515.6. "Physical recycling location" means the area in a
convenience zone served by one or more reverse vending machines which
accept all empty aluminum, glass, and plastic beverage containers
and issue a cash refund or a redeemable credit slip and are located
within 10 feet of each other. The physical recycling location shall
redeem odd sized empty beverage containers or empty beverage
containers made from other material types in a manner approved by the
department. "Physical recycling location" does not include a
combination of reverse vending machines which accept less than all
empty aluminum, glass, and plastic beverage containers and one or
more dropoff bins.

14516. "Place of business of the dealer" means the location at
which a dealer sells, or offers for sale, beverages in beverage
containers to consumers.

14517. "Plastic beverage container" means a beverage container
which has a body consisting primarily of plastic.

14517.5. "Postfilled container" means any container which had been
previously filled with a beverage or food.

14518. "Processor" means any person, including a scrap dealer,
certified by the department who purchases empty aluminum beverage
containers, bimetal beverage containers, glass beverage containers,
plastic beverage containers, or any other beverage containers,
including any one or more of those beverage containers, which have a
refund value established pursuant to this division, from recycling
centers in this state for recycling, or, if the container is not
recyclable, not for recycling, and who cancels, or who certifies to
the department in a form prescribed by the department the
cancellation of, the refund value of these empty beverage containers
by processing empty beverage containers, in any manner which the
department may prescribe. However, the department shall not take any
action regulating scrap dealers or recycling centers who are
processors or recycling centers unless authorized by and pursuant to
the goals of this division.

14518.4. "Processing fee" means the amount paid by beverage
manufacturers to the department pursuant to Section 14575.

14518.5. "Processing payment" means an amount paid to processors,
dropoff or collection programs, curbside programs, and recycling
centers by the department pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section
14573 and subdivision (a) of Section 14573.5 when the department
determines that the scrap value being offered by container
manufacturers, beverage manufacturers, or willing purchasers for a
particular container material is insufficient to insure the economic
recovery of the container type at the minimum number of recycling
centers or locations required pursuant to Section 14571. The
processing payment shall be determined by the department pursuant to
Section 14575.

14519. "Recycle," "recycled," "recycling," or "recyclable" means
the reuse or refilling of empty beverage containers, or the process
of sorting, cleansing, treating, and reconstituting empty postfilled
beverage containers for the purpose of using the altered form.
"Recycle," "recycled," "recycling," or "recyclable" does not include
merely sorting, shredding, stripping, compressing, storing,
landfilling with, or disposing of an empty beverage container.

14519.5. "Recycler" means a recycling center, dropoff or collection
program, or curbside program.

14520. "Recycling center" means an operation which is certified by
the department and which accepts from consumers, and pays or provides
the refund value pursuant to Section 14572 for, empty beverage
containers intended to be recycled.

14520.5. "Recycling location" means a place, mobile unit, reverse
vending machine, or other device where a certified recycling center
accepts one or more types of empty beverage containers from
consumers, and pays or provides the refund value for one or more
types of empty beverage containers.

14520.6. "Noncertified recycler" means a person, entity, or
operation which is not certified by the department and which
purchases empty beverage containers from consumers, or from dropoff
or collection programs.

14521. "Recycling rate" means the proportion of empty beverage
containers by type returned to processors for recycling, measured in
the manner prescribed in Section 14551.

14522.5. "Redemption" and "redeem" means the return to a recycling
center or location of an empty beverage container for a refund of at
least the refund value.

14523. "Redemption payment" means the minimum amount paid by a
distributor to the department for every beverage container sold or
transferred to a dealer.

14523.5. "Redemption rate" means the proportion of empty beverage
containers returned to processors measured in the manner prescribed
in Section 14551.

14524. "Refund value" means the amount established for each type of
beverage container pursuant to Section 14560 that is paid by the
following:
(a) A certified recycling center to the consumer or dropoff or
collection center for each beverage container redeemed by the
consumer or dropoff or collection center. With respect to consumers
returning containers to recycling centers, the refund value shall not
be subject to tax under the Personal Income Tax Law (Part 10
(commencing with Section 17001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code) or the Corporation Tax Law (Part 11 (commencing with
Section 23001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code).
(b) A processor to a certified recycling center, dropoff or
collection program, or curbside program, for each beverage container
received from the certified recycling center, dropoff or collection
program, or curbside program.
(c) The department to a processor, for each beverage container
received by the processor from a certified recycling center, curbside
program, or dropoff or collection program.

14525. "Refillable beverage container" means any aluminum beverage
container, bimetal beverage container, glass beverage container,
plastic beverage container, or other beverage container, holding 150
fluid ounces or less of beverage, which has a minimum deposit of
three cents ($0.03), and which ordinarily would be returned to the
manufacturer to be refilled and resold.

14525.5. "Reverse vending machine" means a mechanical device which
accepts one or more types of empty beverage containers and issues a
cash refund or a redeemable credit slip with a value not less than
the container's refund value. The refund value payments shall be
aggregated and then paid, if more than one container is redeemed in a
single transaction.

14525.5.1. "Rural region recycler" means an operator that is
certified pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b) of Section 14571, and who accepts or collects empty
beverage containers from consumers pursuant to Section 14572 with the
intention to recycle them.

14526. "Scrap value" means the price paid for container material
types subject to this division, after shipping and handling costs are
deducted.

14526.5. "Supermarket" means a full-line, self-service retail store
with gross annual sales of two million dollars ($2,000,000), or
more, and which sells a line of dry grocery, canned goods, or nonfood
items and some perishable items. For purposes of determining which
dealers are supermarkets, the department shall use the annual updates
of the Progressive Grocer Marketing Guidebook and any computer
printouts developed in conjunction with the guidebook.

14526.6. "Supermarket site" means any certified recycling center
which redeems all types of empty beverage containers in accordance
with Section 14572, and which is located within, or outside and
immediately adjacent to the entrance of, or at, or within a parking
lot or loading area surrounding, a supermarket which is the focal
point of a convenience zone, or a dealer that is located within that
zone, and which is accessible to motor traffic.

14527. "Use or consumption" includes the exercise of any right or
power over a beverage incidental to the beverage's ownership,
including, but not limited to, drinking the beverage. "Use or
consumption" does not include the sale, or the keeping or retention,
of a beverage for the purposes of sale.

14528. "Universal product code" is an 11-digit, all-numeric code
that represents a beverage container or other consumer package of a
particular brand, size, type, and manufacturer by using a series of
alternating bars and spaces for electronic scanning.

14528.1. "Voluntary artificial scrap value" means a price paid by a
willing purchaser of empty PET containers, that reflects the payment
of the scrap value for all PET containers sold, and that, when
combined with payments made from the PET processing fee account
pursuant to clause (ii) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (6) of
subdivision (a) of Section 14581, is equal to, or more than, the
recycling cost for empty PET containers, as determined in subdivision
(d) of Section 14575.

14528.5. "Wine and distilled spirit cooler" means a beverage
containing wine or distilled spirits to which is added concentrated
or unconcentrated juice or flavoring material and containing not more
than 7 percent alcohol by volume.
This section shall become operative on January 1, 1990.

14529. This division is a matter of statewide interest and concern
and is applicable uniformly throughout the state. Accordingly, this
division occupies the whole field of regulation of recycling-related
refund values, redemption payments, deposits, and similar fees
relating to beverage containers, as provided in this division, and to
containers of wine and distilled spirits products. No city, county,
or other public agency may enforce or implement any existing or new
ordinance, resolution, regulation, or rule establishing
recycling-related refund values, redemption payments, deposits, or
similar fees relating to these containers in the state unless
expressly authorized by this division. If a federal law is enacted
which establishes recycling-related refund values, redemption
payments, deposits, and similar fees, relating to beverage
containers, other than a federal law only affecting federal lands, or
if a state law is enacted by initiative, which establishes
recycling-related refund values, redemption payments, deposits, and
similar fees relating to beverage containers, this division shall
become inoperative. This section does not prohibit the implementation
or enforcement of any ordinance or regulation governing curbside or
dropoff recycling programs operated by, or pursuant to a contract
with, a city, county, or other public agency, including actions
relating to fees, or establishing fees, for these programs.

14529.5. Any action to increase recycling taken by the department,
or by any person or entity, affecting scrap values, the quantities of
materials being recycled, or the method of invoicing the sale of
beverages pursuant to this division is not a violation of the
Cartwright Act (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 16700) of Part 2
of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code) and the Unfair
Practices Act (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 17000) of Part 2 of
Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code). This section does
not apply to any action taken by a recycling center to increase the
recycling of beverage containers.

14529.7. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), this division
does not apply to any program involving the collection and payment of
deposits for beverage containers sold, used, or consumed at national
parks and monuments, military installations, or any other property
owned by and under the jurisdiction of the United States.
(b) To the extent permitted by federal law, this division,
including, but not limited to, Section 14560.5, shall apply to a
national park or monument, military installation, or any other
property owned by, and under the jurisdiction of, the United States,
with regard to a beverage container not otherwise subject to a
program involving the collection and payment of deposits for beverage
containers.
(c) For purposes of this section, "a program involving the
collection and payment of deposits" means a program, other than one
imposed pursuant to this division, at a national park or monument,
military installation, or any other property owned by, and under the
jurisdiction of, the United States, that imposes a deposit on a
beverage container at the time of sale and provides an opportunity
for the beverage container purchaser to redeem the deposit at the
national park or monument, military installation, or other property
owned by, and under the jurisdiction of, the United States.