A proposed amendment to Michigan’s can and bottle return policy has sparked discussion among lawmakers, aiming to impose new regulations on when businesses must accept bottle returns and when consumers can make returns.
House Bill 5421, unveiled last week, seeks to establish guidelines dictating the timeframe during which retailers are obligated to accept returns of bottles and cans. Presently, retailers selling these items are obliged to receive returns at any time. However, the proposed bill would institute specific timeframes within which retailers must accommodate returns, stipulating that returns must be accepted between the hours of 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. or during the establishment’s posted business hours.
The proposed change aims to address concerns regarding retailers offering limited hours for bottle returns. Michigan State Representative Julie Rogers, the author of the bill and a representative for Kalamazoo, emphasized the need to prevent situations where businesses restrict return hours excessively, particularly following the challenges posed by the pandemic. Rogers highlighted instances of stores implementing narrow return windows, making it inconvenient for working individuals to participate in return processes.
Rogers clarified that the intention behind the bill is not to compel stores to extend their operating hours solely for return purposes. Instead, the bill seeks to align return hours with a retailer’s regular business hours. For example, if a store operates from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., these would be the hours during which bottle and can returns must be accepted.
Importantly, the bill does not alter the types of returns that retailers must accept. Stores will still be required to accept returns for the same products they sell. Although a separate bill introduced last year proposed mandating stores to accept returns irrespective of their merchandise, it has yet to progress through legislative channels.