Cans and bottles can be returned at some Michigan retailers starting June 15

Some Michigan retailers will begin reopening their bottle return facilities to refund customer bottle deposits starting June 15.

Retailers like grocery stores and supermarkets with bottle return facilities at the front of their store or located in a separate area must re-open their bottle return facilities. But they must be facilities that only use the reverse vending machines that require essentially no person-to-person contact, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury.

Those retailers are allowed to limit the number of bottles and cans that a single person can return to a deposit refund of $25. They can also set limited hours to return bottles, close periodically for cleaning, and implement other procedures to ensure safety.

A large pile of plastic bottles and cans collected on a street corner in downtown Manhattan, New York. (Photo By Epics/Getty Images)

RELATED: Cans and bottles pile up while returnable policy remains frozen during pandemic

This is the first phase of re-engaging bottle return. During each week of this first phase, retailers are required to limit the number of returned bottles each week to no more than 140% of their average weekly collection volume for the period April and May 2019.

Information about the next phases will be released by the Department of Treasurer in the “near future.”

Michigan halted bottle returns in Gov. Whitmer's “Stay Home, Stay Safe” executive order March 23. Tom Emmerich, the chief operating officer of Schupan and Sons Recycling, told FOX 2 on May 19 that he estimatesd a total of 500 million containers worth $50 million were being stockpiled at homes and charities and that number gew by 70 million containers a week.