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.
 

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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