Delaware · DE · Food & drink
Delaware: Is there a bottle deposit?
No bottle deposit
Delaware has no bottle deposit; it ended its deposit law in 2010, and the temporary recycling fee that replaced it expired in 2014.
Delaware once had a deposit on beverage containers. A 2010 universal recycling law ended it on December 1, 2010, and replaced it with a non-refundable recycling fee on beverage container sales, which expired on December 1, 2014. Current state law still bans beverage containers that are not recyclable or refillable, but charges no deposit.
What the law says
This section expired on December 1, 2014, under the terms of subsection (e) of the statute as enacted in 77 Del. Laws, c. 275, § 7.
Sources
- 30 Del. C. § 2912 (expired recycling fee on beverage containers) Official · delcode.delaware.gov
- 7 Del. C. ch. 60, subch. III (Solid Waste Recycling, incl. § 6057) Official · delcode.delaware.gov
- Container Recycling Institute: U.S. deposit programs Secondary · bottlebill.org
- Rhode Island Legislative Council: Beverage Container Laws Overview (2023), lists the ten deposit states Official · rilegislature.gov
- 77 Del. Laws c. 275 (2010): repealed the beverage container deposit Official · legis.delaware.gov
Confirm with the state
- Agency
- Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances
- Website
- dnrec.delaware.gov
How bordering states compare
- Maryland No bottle depositMaryland has no bottle deposit law; deposit bills have been filed every year since 2023 but have not passed.
- New Jersey No bottle depositNew Jersey has no bottle deposit; businesses pay a non-refundable litter fee instead.
- Pennsylvania No bottle depositPennsylvania has no bottle deposit law. Recycling runs through local programs under the state's 1988 recycling act.