Here is the answer to the question about the Iowa Code. Notice at the
top of the section that Eric included  it says:

455C.3 Payment of refund value.
Except as provided in section 455C.4:

The "except as provided in section 455C.4 "  lists the situations in
which you do not have to give a payment of refund value. I have copied
that section below. The answer is that if a grocery store ( or any
"dealer" ) did not want to accept returnables they could set up an
agreement with a redemption center and have the department ok that. That
is #2 on the list below. Just one more additional comment -  redemption
centers do exist and they are a big part of the politics of this issues.




455C.4  Refusal to accept containers.

1.  Except as provided in section 455C.5, subsection 3, a dealer, a
person operating a redemption center, a distributor or a manufacturer
may refuse to accept any empty beverage container which does not have
stated on it a refund value as provided
under section 455C.2.

2.  A dealer may refuse to accept and to pay the refund value of any
empty beverage container if the place of business of the dealer and the
kind and brand of empty beverage containers are included in an order of
the department approving a redemption
center under section 455C.6.

3.  A dealer or a distributor may refuse to accept and to pay the refund
value of an empty wine or alcoholic liquor container which is marked to
indicate that it was sold by a state liquor store. The alcoholic
beverages division shall not reimburse a dealer or a distributor the
refund value on an empty wine or alcoholic liquor container which is
marked to indicate that the container
was sold by a state liquor store.

4.  A class "E" liquor control licensee may refuse to accept and to pay
the refund value on an empty alcoholic liquor container from a dealer or
a redemption center or from a person acting on behalf of or who has
received empty alcoholic liquor containers
from a dealer or a redemption center.

5.  A manufacturer or distributor may refuse to accept and to pay the
refund value and reimbursement as provided in section 455C.2 on any
empty beverage container that was picked up by a dealer agent from a
dealer outside the geographic territory served by the manufacturer or
distributor.

Eric G Hurley wrote:

>
> At 04:16 PM 12/1/2001 -0800, you wrote:
>
>> The law has *never* required grocery stores to redeem bottles and
>> cans.  All the store has to do is identify a redemption center where
>> consumers can return their bottles and cans.
>
>
> I've read from several sources that grocery stores are not required to
> redeem bottles and cans. What is the source of this information? I
> checked the Iowa Code at:
>
> http://web.legis.state.ia.us/IACODE/1999SUPPLEMENT/455C/index.html
>
> CHAPTER 455C BEVERAGE CONTAINERS CONTROL
> 455C.3 Payment of refund value.
> Except as provided in section 455C.4:
> 1. A dealer shall not refuse to accept from a consumer any empty
> beverage container of the kind, size and brand sold by the dealer, or
> refuse to pay to the consumer the refund value of a beverage container
> as provided under section 455C.2.
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~
> This seems to indicate that grocery stores must accept what they sell.
> It does not say anything about designating a redemption center. Was
> that written as an administrative rule? Just want to get my facts
> straight before contacting Fareway.
>
> Eric G. Hurley
>
>