The California legislature recently amended the California recycling labeling requirements for wine and spirits containers, making it significantly easier for wineries and distilleries to comply. The new law, AB 720, extended the deadlines for complying with the labeling requirements and authorized the use of QR codes for CRV compliance. Here are the specifics:

• The deadline by when all wine and spirits containers in the marketplace must have CRV labeling has been extended a year, from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 2026.
• The cut-off date for the permanent exemption of already labeled containers from CRV requirements has been extended 18 months, from January 1, 2024 to July 1, 2025. Now, any containers filled and labeled without CRV markings before July 1, 2025 will not need any additional labeling to be compliant, even if sold after July 1, 2026.
• Wineries and distilleries may now use half-inch high QR codes for CRV compliance. This creates an important precedent for other states to follow. We expect that QR codes will increasingly ease the compliance burden for recycling labeling as more states adopt the use of QR codes.

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