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My closing statement read: "There is only one real effective and incentive method to encourage environmentally sound collecting of beverage one-way containers and it is deposit in combination with High-Tech R&D resulted Reverse Vending Machines!

MASSPIRG for better Bottle Bill  

On March 19, 2008, the Telecom, Utilities and Energy Committee shuttled Bottle Bill legislation to “Study” - usually a graveyard for pending legislation. But updating the Bottle Bill has been filed for over 10 years - the time for study is over.

With growing awareness of the trash, waste, and public health problems that come from throwaway containers, the Legislature should move quickly and pull the update of the Bottle Bill from study and bring it up for consideration.

The proposed update would expand the container deposit system to include “new age” drinks such as non-carbonated beverages, water, iced tea, juice, and sports drinks such as "Gatorade". It would add approximately  $12 million to state revenue via projected unclaimed deposits – plus even more by alleviating financial pressure on cities and towns by lowering their trash and litter collection costs.  Read  the release

In 1982, the Bottle Bill was passed into law, creating a container deposit program in Massachusetts. Nearly twenty-five years later, it remains the most effective recycling program in the commonwealth, with almost 70 percent of containers redeemed, and thus kept out of our landfills and incinerators.

But now it’s time for a bigger, better Bottle Bill, one that would bring the program into the 21st century by adding many types of containers that weren’t around when the law was crafted in the 1980s, like bottled water and sports drinks. There’s a bill pending in the Legislature to finally give the Bottle Bill the update it needs.

Overview

The Bottle Bill was passed into law in 1982 as the result of a popular referendum campaign. This was the first state-wide recycling program in Massachusetts, and it remains our most successful recycling program.

Here’s how it works: When a retailer in Massachusetts buys beverages from a distributor, a five-cent deposit is paid to the distributor for each can or bottle purchased. When buying a beverage, the consumer pays the deposit to the retailer. The five-cent deposit is refunded when the consumer returns the empty beverage container to the retail store, a redemption canter or a reverse vending machine. The retailer recovers the deposit from the distributor, plus an additional handling fee of $0.225 for handling the empty bottles and cans. The end result: containers end up recycled and reused instead of thrown away.

Not all consumers redeem their containers for the deposit.  In Massachusetts, distributors and bottlers are required to turn over unclaimed deposits to the state. These funds used to go to the state’s Clean Environment Fund, which supported local and state-wide recycling efforts.

Now we need to update the Bottle Bill: so that the deposit covers new containers, so that the handling fee is increased, and so that we can restore the Clean Environment Fund. Read more.

Resource

• AN ACT TO IMPROVE RECYCLING RATES IN THE COMMONWEALTH (PDF)
• Testimony in support of HB3356, the Updated Bottle Bill