Code of Massachusetts Regulations
301 CMR - EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS
Title 301 CMR 4.00 - PROVISIONS FOR RECYCLING OF BEVERAGE CONTAINERS
Section 4.03 - Containers and Container Labelling

Universal Citation: 301 MA Code of Regs 301.4

Current through Register 1537, December 20, 2024

(1) Holding Devices. No dealer shall sell or offer for sale in the Commonwealth containers connected to each other by a separate holding device constructed of plastic rings or any other device or material which is not photodegradable or biodegradable and which is not capable of decomposing or otherwise breaking down to a degree whereby it does not pose a threat to wildlife through entanglement within 60 days of continual exposure to normal sunlight, microbial action, or other environmental forces.

(a) Standards. A holding device shall be deemed to be capable of breaking down within sixty days so that it does not pose a threat to wildlife through entanglement, within the meaning of 301 CMR 4.03(1), if, after exposure to 60 days of continual exposure to normal sunlight, microbial action, or other natural environmental forces, it reaches the tensile brittle point, i.e., exhibits 0 - 20% absolute elongation at break.

(b) Testing.
1. A natural weathering test shall be conducted in accordance with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Standard Practice for Outdoor Weathering of Plastics, ASTM Designation: D 1435-85.

2. The following test shall be used to demonstrate loss of tensile strength: Standard Test Method for Tensile Properties of Plastic, ASTM Designation: D 638-87b, or Standard Test Methods for Tensile Properties of Thin Plastic Sheeting, ASTM Designation: D882-83.

3. The material and product made from the material shall not decompose, at any time during the degradation process, into components containing hazardous materials as defined in M.G.L. c 21E § 2. An extraction procedure (EP)Toxicity Test, Method 1310, shall be performed on the products of degradation.

4. An alternate product performance test may be substituted for 301 CMR 4.03(1)(b)2 if the following conditions are met:
a. Test data sufficiently relates the property to the rate of degradation.

b. It is the equivalent of what the rule test requires; and

c. A standard ASTM test exists for measuring the property.

5. Testing shall be performed on the manufacturer's material or product, not on the additive used to make the product degradable.

6. All testing shall be performed on all printed and pigmented sections of the product.
a. Testing may be performed on the material rather than the product if the product contains only the natural material and does not contain any inks, pigments or other additives including, but not limited to, plasticizers and stabilizers.

b. If more than one pigment or more than one ink is used, specimens with each shall be tested.

7. All testing shall be performed on a sample of equal or greater thickness than the thickest part of the product.

8. Test specimens shall be cut in the machine direction, except when the material has little or no orientation.

(c) Procedure.
1. All businesses desiring to have their holding devices approved for use in Massachusetts shall submit test data as required by this section to the Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Solid Waste.

2. Testing shall be performed by a third party testing service.

3. The test data shall be submitted in report form and shall include all the information specified in the report section of the ASTM standard test method.

4. The Department shall maintain a list of approved products.

(d) Labelling. Holding devices that have been approved for distribution and sale in Massachusetts shall be embossed with a diamond shaped symbol to indicate degradability.

(2) Refund Legend.

(a) Every beverage container, except permanently labelled reusable glass containers, imported into or offered for sale in the Commonwealth by a bottler, distributor, or dealer shall clearly indicate in at least 12 point type, by embossing or by stamp, or by label, or other method securely affixed by the manufacturer to any portion except the bottom of the beverage container, the refund value of the container and that it may be redeemed in the Commonwealth.

(b) Every permanently labelled reusable glass beverage container imported into, or offered for sale in the Commonwealth by a bottler, distributor, or dealer shall clearly indicate in at least 12 point type, by embossing or by stamp, or by label, or other method securely affixed to any portion except the bottom of the beverage container, that the container may be returned for deposit.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of 301 CMR 4.03(2)(a) and (b), a dealer, distributor, redemption center or bottler may refuse to accept from any person any beverage container, except a permanently labelled reusable glass beverage container, which does not comply with 301 CMR 4.03(2)(a) and may refuse to accept any permanently labelled reusable glass container which does not comply with 301 CMR 4.03(2)(b).

(3) Sale Outside Commonwealth. 301 CMR 4.00 does not require refund legends or payment of a deposit or state indicia on beverage containers handled in the Commonwealth in the normal course of commerce for sale to bottlers, distributors, restaurateurs or dealers outside the Commonwealth.

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