Last Updated on 11/14/2017 by GS Staff
You are charged a 10 cent deposit that is added to the product price when you purchase certain beverages in Michigan. Beverages that have these deposits are containers for pop/soda, beer, wine coolers, carbonated water, mineral water, and canned cocktails.
If you are charged the 10 cent deposit, you are entitled to receive a refund of 10 cent once you finish the beverage. You take the cans or bottles to a retailer who sells the beverages that you bought and they will refund you 10 cents per container.
You do not have to take the containers back to the same location where you original purchased them. However, the store where you return the containers must sell the beverages that you are returning for the deposit.
For example, let’s say you buy a bottle of Coke at Walmart and pay the 10 cent deposit at checkout. Later once you finish that Coke, you could return it to a different store, let’s say Kroger, for your 10 cent refund. If Kroger did not sell Coke, they would not take back the bottle and you would have to find another retailer that did sell Coke to obtain a refund.
Essentially, if a retailer regularly sells beverages for consumption they are required to accept your returned beverage containers. Common retail locations in Michigan that accept beverage container returns are Meijer, Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Hollywood Markets, Spartan Stores, and Sam’s Club.
Most major grocery stores in Michigan have machines that allow you to insert the empty containers into for your refund. You place the containers in the machine one at at a time. The machine counts the number of cans that you inserted and prints out a receipt once you are done. You take the receipt to a cashier at the store who will issue you a refund. Some smaller retailers may manual count your beverage containers before issuing a refund.
You are allowed up to $25 of refunds per day. It is up to the retailer to decide if they want to accept returns above $25, per Michigan law. Note that the law prohibits beverage containers from others states or countries to be brought into Michigan and redeem for the 10 cent deposit. You have to pay the 10 cent deposit in Michigan first before being able to claim your deposit refund.
