Taxing drinks, one bottle at a time

House Bill 1607 creates a new statewide bottle deposit system for most beverages sold in Washington. Under the bill, shoppers would be required to pay a 10-cent deposit on every qualifying bottle or can made of plastic, glass, or metal.

To run this system, the bill hands control to a new nonprofit organization, known as a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO), overseen by the Department of Ecology. This organization would be responsible for setting fees, managing redemption sites, collecting deposits, and determining recycling targets.

While deposits are marketed as “refundable,” in practice, many consumers never redeem them, especially seniors, working families, and people without easy access to redemption centers. The result is a new, embedded cost on groceries and beverages, layered on top of already rising food prices.

At the same time, the bill does not reduce garbage or recycling fees, meaning families pay more at checkout without seeing savings elsewhere.

Why is this a bad policy?

• Sticker prices will go up during an affordability crisis. Drinks will cost more before you even pay the deposit. Beverage companies must pay nearly $600 million annually to operate this new system and are expected to raise the price of every can and bottle by about 15 cents to cover the cost. These costs are built into everyday purchases such as milk, juice, soda, and bottled water, making groceries more expensive at a time when families are already struggling with food inflation.
• You pay a “hidden tax” at the register. In addition to the higher sticker price, you will be required to pay a mandatory 10-cent deposit per container. You only get this money back if you take the empty container to a redemption center. However, not everyone has the time, transportation, or physical ability to do this. If you put the bottle in your curbside bin, lose it, or can’t make the trip, you lose that money, turning the deposit into a quiet tax on daily life.
• Home trash bills could rise, causing double costs. You likely won’t see any savings on your home garbage bill; in fact, rates may increase. Right now, garbage companies sell valuable aluminum, plastic, and glass from your blue bin to help pay for trucks and drivers. This new system removes those valuable items, creating a revenue gap that could force companies to raise rates. This means you pay twice: higher grocery store costs and the same (or higher) rates for trash collection.
• It costs stores money, which costs you money. Washington retailers will have to invest in updating their cash registers, switching accounting systems, and, in some cases, collecting dirty bottles and cans. When it costs a store more to do business, it usually raises prices for customers to make up the difference.
• Expands bureaucracy instead of fixing what works. Most Washington residents already have access to curbside recycling. Rather than improving the systems we already have, this bill creates a costly, inefficient, and heavy-handed new layer of bureaucracy. It complicates recycling rather than simplifying it.
• Puts an unaccountable nonprofit in charge. The bill hands control of the system to a new nonprofit organization that is not subject to open public meetings or public records laws. This group would have sweeping authority to set fees, recycling targets, and operational rules, with minimal transparency or accountability to the public.

Bottom line

HB 1607 raises grocery costs, creates a new bottle tax at checkout, and hands sweeping authority to an unaccountable nonprofit—without lowering garbage bills or meaningfully improving recycling outcomes. It makes everyday life more expensive for families, increases bureaucracy and red tape, and reduces transparency.