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By Matthew Daneman
Water-bottle deposits required in more US states

A growing number of states are either adding deposits on plastic water bottles or considering doing so to increase revenue and decrease litter.

New York, Connecticut and Oregon have joined California, Maine and Hawaii this year in making water bottles part of deposit laws.

New York will add a nickel deposit on bottled water starting June 1. The state has had deposits on carbonated beverages and beer bottles and cans for 26 years. Connecticut's 19-year-old deposit law will add water bottles as of Oct. 1. Oregon added them Jan. 1.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, has a nickel deposit on water, sports drinks and iced teas in his budget proposal for fiscal year 2010, which begins July 1. Similar bills are in committee in the state Legislature, says Richard Powell, chief of staff for sponsoring Democratic Sen. Cynthia Creem.

The Container Recycling Institute, an advocacy group, says 11 states require deposits on some beverages: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon and Vermont. The institute's website lists Florida, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Tennessee and West Virginia with pending bills proposing deposits, including water bottles.

"If you have two plastic 16.9-ounce bottles and this one is used to hold Sprite and this one is used to hold water, why should one be covered and the other not?" says Peter Spendelow, solid waste policy analyst with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. "Clearly it's an effective litter reduction bill."

New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), an environmental advocacy group, had pushed for expansion since 2002, says Laura Haight, the group's senior environmental associate. The state's budget deficit and a requirement that the state get a share of unclaimed deposits from beverage distributors helped get it passed, she says.

The state estimates it will take in $115 million in unclaimed deposits this year.

Dennis Schain, spokesman for the Connecticut state Department of Environmental Protection, says the state estimates that it will bring in about $41.5 million annually.

The expansion has drawn opposition from retailers and beverage manufacturers.

"States are looking at this as a money grab," said American Beverage Association spokesman Craig Stevens. "What we support is comprehensive curbside recycling." The expansion of bottle bills increases difficulty for convenience stores dealing with returns and storage, says Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores.

Original source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-04-16-waterbottledeposits_N.htm