[ Previous Page] [ Home Page ]
The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL Opinion No. 6020 December 30, 1981 BOTTLES AND BOTTLING: Redemption of returnable containers by a distributor upon tender by another distributor 1976 Initiated Measure does not require a distributor to redeem soft drink beverage containers tendered by another distributor. Honorable Charles H. Varnum House of Representatives State Capitol Lansing, Michigan You have requested my opinion whether a distributor of soft drink beverages in the Lower Peninsula is required to redeem soft drink beverage containers tendered by a distributor located in the Upper Peninsula. 1976 PA Initiated Measure; MCLA 445.571 et seq; MSA 18.1206(11) et seq, provides for a system of deposits and refunds on all soft drink beverages sold in returnable containers within the state. As used in 1976 PA Initiated Measure, supra, 'dealer' and 'distributor' are defined by 1976 PA Initiated Measure, supra, Sec. 1, as follows: '(f) 'Dealer' means a person who sells or offers for sale to consumers within this state a beverage in a beverage container, including an operator of a vending machine containing a beverage in a beverage container.' '(h) 'Distributor' means a person who sells beverages in beverage containers to a dealer within this state, and includes a manufacturer who engages in such sales.' As last amended by the Legislature by 1977 PA 270, 1976 Initiated Measure, supra, Sec. 2, in pertinent part, sets forth the requirements which a distributor must observe in regard to refunds of deposits on returnable beverage containers: '(6) A distributor shall not refuse to accept from a dealer an empty returnable container of any kind, size, and brand sold by that distributor, nor refuse to pay to the dealer its full refund value in cash, except as provided in Subsection (7).' [Emphasis supplied.] Thus, a distributor is only required to pay a refund to a dealer. There is no provision in the 1976 Initiated Measure, supra, which mandates a distributor to pay a refund to another distributor. It is my opinion, therefore, that 1976 PA Initiated Measure, supra, does not require a distributor to redeem soft drink beverage containers tendered by another distributor, regardless of where in Michigan either distributor is located. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General
[ Previous Page] [ Home Page ]