Maryland · MD · Food & drink
Maryland: Is there a bottle deposit?
No bottle deposit
Maryland has no bottle deposit law; deposit bills have been filed every year since 2023 but have not passed.
Maryland does not require a refundable deposit on beverage containers. A 2026 bill (House Bill 331) would have created a 10- and 15-cent deposit starting in 2029, but it did not advance past committee hearings. A 2025 law instead created a producer responsibility program for packaging, which covers beverage containers and has no consumer deposit.
What the law says
statute explicitly states that the program may not be construed to preclude the separate adoption of a beverage container deposit return program in the State.
Sources
- Md. Dept. of Legislative Services, Fiscal and Policy Note, HB 331 (2026) Official · mgaleg.maryland.gov
- Maryland General Assembly: HB 331 (2026) bill status Official · mgaleg.maryland.gov
- Container Recycling Institute (BottleBill.org): U.S. deposit programs Secondary · bottlebill.org
- Rhode Island Legislative Council: Beverage Container Laws Overview (2023), lists the ten deposit states Official · rilegislature.gov
Confirm with the state
- Agency
- Maryland Department of the Environment, Waste Diversion Division
- Phone
- 410-537-3314
- Website
- mde.maryland.gov
How bordering states compare
- Delaware No bottle depositDelaware has no bottle deposit; it ended its deposit law in 2010, and the temporary recycling fee that replaced it expired in 2014.
- Pennsylvania No bottle depositPennsylvania has no bottle deposit law. Recycling runs through local programs under the state's 1988 recycling act.
- Virginia No bottle depositVirginia has no bottle deposit law, and state law blocks local governments from requiring container deposits.
- West Virginia No bottle depositWest Virginia has no state bottle deposit law, so cans and bottles carry no refundable deposit.