During the 2005 legislative session, the North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 1518 (pdf*), Session Law 2005-348 requiring holders of certain ABC permits (liquor licenses) to recycle all beverage containers.

This bill does not affect everyone with a liquor license, but it does affect nearly all bars and restaurants. House Bill 1518 became effective on January 1, 2008. The affected ABC permit types are:

• on-premises malt beverage
• on-premises unfortified wine
• on-premises fortified wine 
• mixed beverages permits

Recycling is required for beverage containers sold at retail price for on-premises consumption. The main types of containers affected by the legislation are glass bottles, aluminum cans, and plastic bottles. Through previous legislation, aluminum cans were already banned from disposal in North Carolina, and House Bill 1465 (pdf*), also enacted in 2005, banned the disposal of plastic bottles by October 2009. The bans on plastic bottles and aluminum cans applies to everyone. For most ABC permit holders, glass bottles will be the majority of the materials generated for recycling. The burden of recycling falls on the generator (the bar or restaurant). There is no requirement for local governments to provide recycling collection of these materials.

Beverage container recycling service may be available for:

• Permit holders in the Central Business District (CBD)
• Permit holders that currently receive trash or recycling dumpster service from the City of Greensboro.

To find out if your bar or restaurant is eligible for beverage container recycling services from the City, call the Commercial Recycling help line at 335-5444.

The City's Commercial Recycling Program does not currently accept glass beverage bottles in the recycling dumpsters. Glass cannot be mixed with other recyclables because the large volume of bottles causes breakage and the broken glass cannot be separated from cardboard or other fiber-based materials. Plastic and aluminum beverage containers are accepted for commercial recycling.

ABC permit holders may contact their current waste hauler and other recycling service companies to find other options. As the effective date of the legislation nears, we expect the number of collection options to grow. The NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources offers this fact sheet (pdf*) with suggestions on how to start a recycling program. You may also follow this link to the Partnership for Bar and restaurant Recycling website for more information on how to set up your own recycling program.


*To learn more about pdf files and to download the free Acrobat Reader, visit the pdf page on this website.