Michigan's 10-cent bottle and can deposit program is losing steam

Once boasting redemption rates above 95%, Michigan's redemption rate on its 10-cent deposit on some beverage bottles and cans has dropped significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new University of Michigan report suggests stakeholders would like to see more unclaimed bottle and can deposit money get reinvested in modernizing the container recycling.

In Shea Carney's house, those beverage bottles and cans eligible for a 10-cent deposit return have become more of a nuisance than a useful income boost.

"I used to take them in myself but now I commonly do delivery instead of in-store shopping because of the time efficiency," the Milford Township resident said.

Carney has put the containers in her curbside recycling in the past, and now donates them to people or fund-raising organizatio