California to Award $18 Million in Reverse Vending Machine Grants

California is preparing to award $18 million in grants to expand access to reverse vending machines that let consumers return eligible beverage containers for recycling, with conditional awards expected to be approved as soon as this week. The funding is administered by the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, known as CalRecycle, under the state's Beverage Container Redemption Innovation Grant Program, which is designed to increase automated redemption opportunities and make it easier for consumers to recover deposits paid on bottles and cans. Applications for the latest funding cycle closed June 23, 2026, with conditional grant awards scheduled for October, subject to approval. CalRecycle's next monthly public meeting is set for Tuesday, Oct. 20, and the agency has not yet confirmed approval of the Cycle 9 awards. The grants could support additional reverse vending machine installations at grocery stores, convenience stores and other retail locations. That comes as California confronts a decade-long decline in redemption access: an investigation by KPBS News found the state has lost roughly half of its beverage container redemption centers over the past ten years, leaving consumers with fewer places to reclaim deposits. For operators and manufacturers, the program signals continued public investment in the U.S. reverse vending segment, where automated collection points are increasingly filling the gap left by closing staffed redemption centers. Source: Vending Times — https://www.vendingtimes.com/news/california-to-award-18m-in-reverse-vending-machine-grants/