So, the entire deposit/refund system is predicated on revenue and not on environmental stewardship? Huh.
Bingo!
The purpose of this whole scheme is supposedly to keep bottles and cans out of litter, trash, etc. by having them returns for recycling. Here is how it works.
Say you buy a can of soda for $1. You have to pay the dollar, plus sales tax if applicable, plus a fixed deposit of, say, 5c. The merchant sends 4c to the state, and keeps a penny as the allowable "handling fee".
Then, after you drink your soda (or dump it out, or put a Mentos in it) you bring the container to a redemption center. The redemption center gives you your five cents, bundles the containers, and gives them to the recycling operation who gives the redeption center say 7 1/2 cents per container, the difference is the redemption center profit.
The recycling center cleans the bottles, and returns them, or the materials, to the manaufacturer. The state gives the recycler the nickel back, and the recycling center makes the rest of it's money by selling the bottles or materials. In Maine the recycling cenetr is supported in part by grants. I don't know if they are profitable on their own. My guess is they are run by Democrats, so probably not.
Since the are more deposits paid than containers redeemed, the state accumulates a large fund representing deposits unredeemed containers, tens or hundreds of millions of dollars for a large state like Cailifornia.
Tax and tax refund