Maryland Beverage Container Recycling Refund & litter Reduc

  The Beverage Container Recycling Refund and Litter Reduction Program (the Maryland Bottle Bill), would reduce beverage container and plastic pollution, and more than triple Maryland’s recycling rate for beverage containers, to 90%. It would add a small deposit to the cost of beverage containers that is refunded to customers when the containers are returned for recycling. Under this program, you’re buying the beverage, but borrowing the container.  

 The Howard County State Delegation to the MD General Assembly is composed of three senators and eight delegates. 

All eight delegates are sponsors or cosponsors of the Bottle Bill.

Two of the three senators are supporters or cosponsors. Senator Katie Fry Hester has not committed yet. 

1) If you are in Katie Fry Hester's district, please consider calling her office or emailing her to ask for her support of the bottle bill. 

410-841-3671

katiefry.hester@senate.maryland.gov

2)  If you are in Christiana Rigby‘s district, contact her for support of the bill. 

Christiana Rigby:

(410) 313-2001 

crigby@howardcountymd.gov

3) If you are in Opel Jones' district please contact her for support of this bill.

Opel Jones:

(410) 313-2001

ojones@howardcountymd.gov 

 Contact Howard County Council members to encourage them to write testimony in support of the Bill. There are five members of the Council.  Deb Jung and Liz Walsh.have already written in support of the Bottle Bill.

Adding your name to the Maryland Sierra Club Add Up campaign to send automatic emails to the County Executive and the whole County Council.

 Written testimony for each bill is due soon.  February 6  for the Senate SB 342 and February 9  for the House HB 331) at 6 PM. The hearings will be on February 10 in the Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee, and on February 11 in the House Environment and Transportation Committee. If you have any interest, you can watch the hearing live on the MD General Assembly website. 

https://conduitstreet.mdcounties.org/2026/01/08/your-go-to-guide-for-submitting-testimony-to-the-2026-general-assembly/