Links
Resources
- New York Bottle Bill in the News
- Look up New York bills
- New York's existing deposit law
- New York Campaign History
Announcements
- Bigger Better Bottle Bill part of Spitzer's Tax Cut Plan
- DiNapoli's Bigger Better Bottle Bill passes assembly - From environmental committee newsletter, December 2005
Polls and Surveys
- 2007 Litter Survey [PDF,696kb]
- Survey of New York Registered Voters: Attitudes Toward New York's Bottle Bill and Proposed Reforms By Public Policies Associates, Inc., February 2004
- Poll summary [pdf,148KB]
Reports
- Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures Keep Bigger Better Bottle Bill Bottled Up in Albany [PDF, 508 Kb] June 2004
- Scenic Hudson's Litter Sweep - June 2002
Policy Statements/ Persuasive tools
- Letter from NY Environmental Groups to legislators on amendments to the bottle law - May 2009
- Better Bottle Bill: There's still time to sign! [YouTube video] March 2008
- CRI Statement in Support of Expanding the Bottle Bill [PDF,98kb] February 2007
- Plastic Bottle Recycling in New York State [pdf] April 2006
- Rebuttals to arguments against the bottle bill [pdf,86kb] April 2006
- CRI Testimony in Albany [PDF,113Kb] January 2004
- What's Wrong With New York's Bottle Bill? [PDF,364Kb] CRI Presentation at NYFSWA Conference, May 2003
- Put the Bottle Bill to work for New York [pdf,108Kb] March 2003
- CRI's Sample Resolution Urging the New York State Legislature to enact an updated and expanded Bottle Bill [PDF,62kb] 2003
Events
- Tom Suozzi cleans up litter in support of the Bigger Better Bottle Bill - May 2008
- Can & Bottle Collectors demand their rights! [PDF,119kb] April 2005
New York
The 2009 Campaign
Governor Paterson proposed including the Bigger Better Bottle Bill in the 2009 State Budget. Changes to the existing law are highlighted below.
On April 7, the updated bottle bill was passed, set to take effect June 1. However, the fight's not over yet!
| Bill Number and Name | S59 and A159  Bill text |
|---|---|
| Primary Sponsor | Introduced by Governor David Paterson |
| Beverages Covered | Adds water |
| Handling Fees | Increased to 3.5¢ |
| Unredeemed Deposits | 80% to the state General Fund; 20% retained by distributor |
Details
Requires statewide chain retailers, with stores over 40,000 square feet, to install reverse vending machines.
To prevent people from collecting deposit refunds in New York for bottles they bought in neighboring states that did not charge a deposit, all New York deposit containers must have a separate UPC code.
Almost as soon as the bill was passed, industry groups set about writing amendments to the bill, which, if passed, would seriously limit the bill's effectiveness. To find out more about these bills and their potential damaging effects, see the letter that New York environmental groups have sent to their lawmakers.
Progress
January 7, 2009: A159 Introduced and referred to Ways and Means
March 31, 2009: Passed Assembly and referred to Senate
April 3, 2009: Passed Senate, returned to Assembly and delivered to Governor
April 7, 2009: Signed by governor
May 18, 2009: Nestle Waters and the International Bottled Water Association filed a lawsuit against the state of New York, claiming the New-York-only UPC provision violates the US Constitution
May 27, 2009: U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Griesa issued a verbal injunction preventing the updated law from being implemented while the lawsuit is in progress.
May 29, 2009: A written court order by Judge Griesa further delayed implementation of any part of the law until April 1, 2010
Contacts
Laura Haight, NYPIRG.
(518) 436-0876 x258 or
lhaight@nypirg.org.
Joseph Stelling, NYPIRG
518-436-0876 x276 or
jstelling@nypirg.org
