(a) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a certified recycling center shall accept from any consumer or dropoff or collection program any empty beverage container, and shall pay to the consumer or dropoff or collection program the refund value of the beverage container.

(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the recycling center may pay the refund value based on the weight of returned containers.

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(3) On and after September 1, 2013, for beverage containers redeemed by consumers, a certified recycling center shall pay the refund value using the applicable segregated rate, as defined in paragraph (43) of subsection (a) of Section 2000 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as that section read on September 1, 2013, which shall be based on the weight of the redeemed beverage containers.

(b) Any recycling center or processor that was in existence on January 1, 1986, and that refused, as of January 1, 1986, to accept at a particular location a certain type of empty beverage container may continue to refuse to accept at the location the type or types of empty beverage containers that the recycling center or processor refused to accept as of January 1, 1986. A certified recycling center that refuses, pursuant to this subdivision, to accept a certain type or types of empty beverage containers is not eligible to receive handling fees unless the center agrees to accept all types of empty beverage containers and is a supermarket site. This subdivision does not preclude the certified recycling center from receiving a handling fee for beverage containers redeemed at supermarket sites that do accept all types of containers.

(c) The department shall develop procedures by which recycling centers and processors that meet the criteria of subdivision (b) may recertify to change the material types accepted.

(d) (1) Only a certified recycling center may pay the refund value to consumers or dropoff or collection programs. A person shall not pay a noncertified recycler for empty beverage containers an amount that exceeds the current scrap value for each container type, which shall be determined in the following manner:

(A) For a plastic or glass beverage container, the current scrap value shall be determined by the department.

(B) For an aluminum beverage container, the current scrap value shall be not greater than the amount paid to the processor for that aluminum beverage container, on the date the container was purchased, by the location of end use, as defined in the regulations of the department.

(2) A person shall not receive or retain, for empty beverage containers that come from out of state, any refund values, processing payments, or administrative fees for which a claim is made to the department against the fund.

(3) Paragraph (1) does not affect curbside programs under contract with cities or counties.

(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 356, Sec. 20. (SB 96) Effective September 26, 2013.)