Massachusetts Wholesalers of Malt Beverages, Inc. v. Commonwealth

In Massachusetts Wholesalers of Malt Beverages, Inc. v. Attorney Gen., 409 Mass. 336 (1991) (Mass. Wholesalers), we considered whether G. L. c. 94, § 323 (g), of the so-called “bottle bill,” 3 as originally enacted, required bottlers and distributors to hold “deposits and/or handling charges” created by the law in trust for consumers and, with respect to unclaimed deposits, for the Commonwealth by application of principles of abandoned property law. Mass. Wholesalers, supra at 342. 4 We held that the unclaimed “deposits” belonged to the bottlers and distributors. Id. at 343.

In 1989, the…