SB 955: Beverage containers: supermarkets: reverse vending machines.

The bill aims to improve the recycling system in California by designating convenience zones around supermarkets, where reverse vending machines can be certified as recycling centers. Convenience zones are defined as areas within a one-mile radius of a supermarket with gross annual sales of $2 million or more, selling specified items and some perishable goods. The bill establishes the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund and continuously appropriates moneys to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery for specified purposes, including processing payments to recycling centers and handling fees for recyclers. The bill also allows reverse vending machines to operate in convenience zones and prohibits processing payments, handling fees, and administrative fees for dealer cooperatives if a certified recycling center is located in the same zone. The bill makes an appropriatio…