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

“Aluminum beverage container” means a beverage container which consists primarily of aluminum.

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

“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.

“sport” drinks.

include either of the following:

distinctive nutritional requirements, based on recognized scientific principles, are established by medical evaluation.

become operative on January 1, 2024.

“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.

license.

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

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

“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.

of one year, and may be extended.

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.

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.

“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.

“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.

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

one mile radius of a supermarket.

“Curbside program” means a recycling program which meets all of the following criteria:

“Dealer cooperative” means a stewardship organization that is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and formed for the purpose of providing redemption opportunities pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 14578 and consists of dealers that have an approved dealer cooperative redemption plan. A dealer cooperative is voluntary for a dealer to join pursuant to Section 14578.

“Department” means the Division of Recycling in the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.

“Director” means the Director of Resources Recycling and Recovery.

“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.

“Drink” means fruit juice or any other noncarbonated drink.

“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.

“Empty beverage container” means a beverage container which meets all of the following requirements:

“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.

“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.

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

“Glass beverage container” means a beverage container which has a body consisting primarily of glass.

“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.

“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.

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

“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.

“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.

“Nonprofit convenience zone recycler” means a recycling center that is either of the following:

following criteria:

“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.

“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.

“Person” means any individual, corporation, operation, or entity, whether or not certified or registered pursuant to this division.

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

“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.

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

“Plastic beverage container” means a beverage container which has a body consisting primarily of plastic.

“Postfilled container” means any container which had been previously filled with a beverage or food.

“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.

“Processing fee” means the amount paid by beverage manufacturers to the department pursuant to Section 14575.

“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.

“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.

“Recycler” means a recycling center, dropoff or collection program, or curbside program.

“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.

“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.

“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.

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

“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.

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

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

“Refund value” means the amount established for each type of beverage container pursuant to Section 14560 that is paid by the following:

“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.

“Reusable beverage container” means a glass beverage container

with a refund value established pursuant to Section 14560 and that is processed by a processor for subsequent washing for refill and sale by a beverage manufacturer.

“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.

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

“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.

“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.

“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.

“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.

“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.

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.

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.