Methodology
This site follows one rule: every claim carries a source. That is not just an editorial promise. It is enforced by the build. Each argument section must reference at least one entry in a shared citation ledger, and each reference must resolve to a real entry, or the site does not compile. An unsourced or broken claim cannot ship.
Where the numbers come from
The inflation figures are derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U series (CUUR0000SA0), the standard all-items consumer price index. The calculation is deliberately plain: an old deposit's value today is the original amount scaled by the ratio of the current price level to the price level in the base year. The base-year figures are annual averages; the "today" figure is the most recent published monthly value at the time of research.
The redemption-rate evidence comes from state agencies' own published data: Connecticut's before-and-after quarterly figures around its 2024 deposit increase, and Maine's own comparison between its five-cent and fifteen-cent tiers. Where a figure is a news outlet relaying a state estimate rather than a number we read from the agency directly, it is marked as a secondary source.
What the source types mean
- Primary — a statute, an agency dataset, or an official report read directly.
- Secondary — reporting that relays a primary figure.
- Vendor — an industry account, useful but interested.
- Synthesis — our own combination of several sources.
The citation ledger
Primary sources
- Connecticut DEEP, "Bottle Bill Redemption Rate Update" (SWAC presentation, Mar. 25, 2025)
State presentation reporting quarterly redemption rates before and after the deposit doubled: 2023 quarters at 38.8/41.1/45.0/50.4 percent, 2024 quarters at 51.9/56.6/70.7/77.3 percent.
- Connecticut DEEP, Bottle Bill Redemption Data (quarterly dataset)
Quarter-by-quarter containers sold and redeemed for Connecticut, spanning the January 1, 2024 increase from a nickel to a dime.
- Maine DEP, "Maine's Beverage Container Redemption Program (Bottle Bill)"
Program page confirming the 1978 start and the current split: a 15-cent deposit on spirits and wine containers and a 5-cent deposit on beer, hard cider, wine coolers, soda, and noncarbonated water.
- Maine OPEGA, "Maine's Beverage Container Redemption Program" (Report SR-BOTTLE-17, May 2018)
Legislative watchdog review. Establishes Maine's program was enacted by referendum in November 1976 and implemented in January 1978, that the State has never calculated an overall redemption rate, and the CY2016 tier rates (74.7% non-commingled, 87.2% spirits) and $1,862,941 escheat figure.
- Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 §3103 (Refund value)
Sets Maine's two-tier deposit: a 5-cent floor for beer, soda, and water containers, and a separate 15-cent floor for wine and spirits containers larger than 50 mL.
- Maine Revised Statutes Title 38 §3108-A (Unclaimed deposits)
Governs who keeps unredeemed deposits in Maine. Commingled unclaimed deposits are the property of the commingling group, which determines their disposition and use; only non-commingled, non-exempt initiators remit to the State.
- Oregon DEQ, "Oregon's Evolving Bottle Bill"
Oregon's environmental agency: the 1971 Oregon Bottle Bill was the first in the United States, at a 5-cent deposit. The page states a nickel in 1971 held about 28 cents of buying power by 2010.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U series CUUR0000SA0 (All items, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted)
Official monthly Consumer Price Index values, 1971 to 2026. The inflation math is derived directly from this series: 1971 annual average 40.492, 1978 annual average 65.233, July 2026 monthly value 333.918.
Secondary sources
- Bangor Daily News, "Beverage industry fights bill to direct unredeemed bottle deposits to lake and farm protection" (Apr. 5, 2026)
Reports Maine DEP's own estimate of about $16 million a year in unclaimed redemptions statewide. A secondary relay of a primary agency estimate, not the outlet's own calculation.