Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1) The Commission
does not interpret ORS
459A.710 to require a dealer to
accept an empty beverage container, if :
(a) The area of the business occupies a total
enclosed space of 5,000 or more square feet in a single location and has not
offered the kind of beverage for sale within the past six months;
(b) The area of the business occupies a total
enclosed space of less than 5,000 square feet in a single location and has not
offered the kind, size, and brand of beverage for sale within the past six
months;
(c) The dealer has
reasonable grounds to believe the beverage was sold at retail outside
Oregon;
(d) The dealer has
reasonable grounds to believe that the container was obtained from or through a
distributor without paying the refund value. The primary goal of this
subsection is to prevent distributors, recyclers or others from putting
containers through the refund/return system more than once without paying the
refund value; or
(e) The dealer has
reasonable grounds to believe that the container has already been redeemed,
such as through a reverse vending process.
(2) Dealers must not use this rule to
frustrate the requirement of the Beverage Container Act that requires dealers
to accept return of beverage containers. If a person attempts to return a fewer
number of redeemable beverage containers than the number stated below, the
dealer must accept those containers. A dealer is not prohibited from accepting
more beverage containers than the applicable amount, but if the dealer limits
returns to the number stated below, it must post a clearly visible and legible
sign containing the information set forth in ORS
459A.715(3).
Dealers must accept return of:
(a) 144
beverage containers sold in Oregon from any person in any one day at all hours
the dealer is open for business, if the dealer occupies a total enclosed space
of 5,000 or more square feet in a single location and is not in a redemption
center zone;
(b) 144 beverage
containers sold in Oregon from any person in any one day at all hours the
dealer is open for business if the dealer occupies a total enclosed space of
5,000 or more square feet in a single location, is in a full-service redemption
center zone, and is approved by the Commission for an exemption under ORS
459A.738(5)(c);
(c) 50 beverage containers sold in
Oregon from any person in any one day at all hours the dealer is open for
business, if the dealer occupies a total enclosed space of less than 5,000
square feet in a single location and is not in a full-service redemption center
zone;
(d) 24 beverage containers
sold in Oregon from any person in any one day at all hours the dealer is open
for business if the dealer occupies a total enclosed space of 5,000 or more
square feet in a single location, is in zone 2 of a redemption center, and
participates in that redemption center;
(e) 24 beverage containers sold in Oregon
from any person in any one day at all hours the dealer is open for business if
the dealer occupies a total enclosed space of less than 5,000 square feet in a
single location and is in a full-service redemption center zone;
(f) 24 beverage containers sold in Oregon
from any person in any one day at all hours the dealer is open for business if
a dealer establishes a dealer redemption center and if a dealer participates in
a dealer redemption center; or
(g)
Up to 350 beverage containers sold in Oregon from any person in any one day at
all hours the dealer is open for business if the dealer occupies a total
enclosed space of 5,000 or more square feet in a single area, is in a
full-service redemption center convenience zone, and does not participate in
that redemption center. This requirement is in addition to other equivalent
services to the redemption center that the dealer must provide as specified in
ORS 459A.738(5).
