About the NC Recycling Law

"Who has to recycle? What do we recycle?"

During the 2005 legislative session, the North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 1518 requiring holders of certain Alcoholic Beverage Control permits to separate, store and recycle all recyclable beverage containers. The bill was amended in 2007 and ratified as House Bill 267.

The bill is effective Jan. 1, 2008. The bill affects only holders of on-premises malt beverage, on-premises unfortified wine, on-premises fortified wine and mixed beverages permits. Furthermore, recycling is only required for those containers that are sold at retail for on-premises consumption.

Beverage containers are glass bottles, aluminum cans and plastic bottles. For most ABC permit holders, glass bottles will be the majority of the materials generated for recycling, especially by weight, followed by aluminum and then plastic. Steel cans can be included in a recycling program, although steel food containers are not required to be recycled by this legislation.

Click on the links below to view trade association websites for each recyclable material.