The state's bottle law took two big steps forward yesterday with Gov. Linda Lingle's signing of a bill to allow the redemption of crushed cans and plastic containers, and a report that container redemption more than doubled in June.

The storage of cans and bottles has been a major complaint, in part because the recyclables take up so much space. But until now, the containers have needed to be whole so redemption officials could see their recycling markings or so automatic reverse vending machines could read bar codes. Under the newly approved Act 206, crushed metal and plastic containers can be redeemed by weight at certified redemption centers.

Flattened containers will not be accepted by reverse vending machines.

Act 206 also exempts airlines and cruise ships that have their own approved recycling programs from participating in the state's deposit container program.

The state Department of Health said that recycling centers reported the redemption of 73.4 million containers in June, more than double the 35.3 million turned in the previous month. Since the start of the year, more than 212 million containers have been redeemed for the nickel deposit.

Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said that roughly 800 million redeemable containers are sold each year in the state, or about 67 million each month. She said that some of the containers redeemed during June may actually have been turned in earlier, with recyclers simply getting their paperwork in during the month of June.

Still, the total reflects a continuing upward trend in recycling rates, she said.

"The dramatic increase in recycled beverage containers is very encouraging. We are so glad that the department's public education efforts and work with recyclers and retailers are paying off," said Laurence Lau, the department's deputy director of environmental health.

For more information on the state's HI-5 container redemption program, check the Web site hi5deposit.com.