1. Labels. Except as provided under subsection 4, the refund value, or the words “refund value” or the abbreviation “RV,” and the word “Maine” or the abbreviation “ME” must be clearly indicated on every refundable beverage container sold or offered for sale by a dealer in this State, by embossing, stamping, labeling or other method of secure attachment to the beverage container, except in instances when the initiator of deposit has specific permission from the department to use stickers or similar devices. The refund value may not be indicated on the bottom of the container.

[PL 2023, c. 482, §8 (AMD).]

Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3105

  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Beverage: means beer, ale or other drink produced by fermenting malt, spirits, wine, hard cider, wine coolers, soda or noncarbonated water and all nonalcoholic carbonated or noncarbonated drinks in liquid form and intended for internal human consumption, except for unflavored rice milk, unflavored soymilk, milk and dairy-derived products. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
  • Beverage container: means a bottle, can, jar or other container made of glass, metal or plastic that has been sealed by a manufacturer and at the time of sale contains 4 liters or less of a beverage. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
  • Commingling agreement: means an agreement between 2 or more initiators of deposit allowing the beverage containers for which they have initiated deposits to be commingled by dealers and redemption centers, as described in section 3107. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
  • Commingling group: includes the State, through the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations, which, pursuant to section 3107, is deemed to be managing returned containers for which the State has initiated deposits in a commingling program pursuant to a qualified commingling agreement, but does not include the commingling cooperative. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
  • cooperative: means the entity established pursuant to section 3107, subsection 3?B to manage the collection of all beverage containers subject to the requirements of this chapter under a single commingling program. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
  • Dealer: means a person who sells, offers to sell or engages in the sale of beverages in beverage containers to a consumer, including, but not limited to, an operator of a vending machine containing beverages in beverage containers. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
  • Department: means the Department of Environmental Protection. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
  • in the State: means within the exterior limits of the State and includes all territory within these limits owned by or ceded to the United States of America. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
  • initiator: means a manufacturer, distributor or other person who initiates a deposit on a beverage container under section 3103. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
  • Nonrefillable: means a beverage container that, after being used by a consumer, is not to be reused as a beverage container by a manufacturer. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
  • Refillable: means a beverage container that, after being used by a consumer, is to be reused as a beverage container at least 5 times by a manufacturer. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
  • Reverse vending machine: means an automated device that meets the requirements of rules adopted by the department and that uses a laser scanner or optical sensor and microprocessor to accurately recognize the universal product code on each beverage container and to accumulate information regarding containers redeemed, enabling the reverse vending machine to accept containers from redeemers and to issue script for the containers' refund value. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 Sec. 3102
2. Labels; nonrefillable containers; nonexclusive distributorships.

[PL 2023, c. 482, §9 (RP).]

3. Labels; nonrefillable containers; exclusive distributorships.

[PL 2023, c. 482, §10 (RP).]

4. Refillable beverage containers. Refillable beverage containers for which the deposit is initiated under section 3103 that have a refund value of not less than 5¢ and a brand name permanently marked on the container are not required to comply with subsection 1.

[PL 2023, c. 482, §11 (AMD).]

5. Label registration. An initiator of deposit shall register the container label of any beverage offered for sale in the State on which it initiates a deposit. Registration must be on forms or in an electronic format provided by the department prior to July 15, 2025 and by the cooperative beginning July 15, 2025 and must include the universal product code for each combination of beverage and container manufactured. The initiator of deposit shall renew a label registration annually and whenever that label is revised by altering the universal product code or whenever the container on which it appears is changed in size, composition or glass color. The initiator of deposit shall also include as part of the registration identification of a collection agent, identification of all of the parties to a commingling agreement that applies to the container and proof of the collection agreement.
A. Prior to July 15, 2025, the department may charge a fee for registration and registration renewals under this subsection. [PL 2023, c. 482, §12 (NEW).]
B. Beginning July 15, 2025, a commingling group shall ensure that all initiators of deposit participating in the commingling group provide to the cooperative accurate and up-to-date label registration information required by this subsection and that any updates to label registrations are provided to the cooperative at least 30 days prior to introduction for sale in the State. The cooperative shall ensure that accurate and up-to-date information regarding all label registrations is shared with entities using or administering reverse vending machine and account-based bulk processing programs and is made available on its publicly accessible website. [PL 2023, c. 482, §12 (NEW).]

[PL 2023, c. 482, §12 (AMD).]

6. Removal of product. A product that is sold or distributed in the State that is not in compliance with the initiator of deposit or the labeling registration requirements established in this section may be removed from sale by the department.

[PL 2015, c. 166, §14 (NEW).]

SECTION HISTORY

PL 2015, c. 166, §14 (NEW). PL 2019, c. 11, §§1, 2 (AMD). PL 2019, c. 526, §6 (AMD). PL 2023, c. 482, §§8-12 (AMD).
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 33 Contents