KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Michigan stores big and small that accept can and bottle returns would have an additional requirement to follow if a new bill in Lansing passes.
The state’s bottle return law requires retailers to accept bottle and can returns if they sell them at their store. But it doesn’t specify how or when.
H.B. 5421 , which has bipartisan support, would address that. If it passes, such retailers would be required to accept returns from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. or during their posted business hours.
State Rep. Julie Rogers, D-Kalamazoo, who wrote the bill, said there weren’t any issues with the state’s bottle return law until after the pandemic, when some stores began to only allow returns during very narrow time frames.
“I’ve even seen a small sign in one of the windows in a Kalamazoo store that said ’12 to 2.’ … For most working people, myself included, that is very difficult,” Rogers explained. “So it’s certainly not the intention of the bill to require stores to open additional hours. If you’re, for example, open from 9 to 5, then those would be the hours you would be required to take the bottles and cans back.”