Advocates Push to Update Bottle Law
By Catherine Williams

BOSTON - Environmental activists, lawmakers and Boston city officials are hoping 2007 is the year lawmakers update a 25-year old bottle redemption bill by expanding it to include a five-cent redemption fee for non-carbonated drinks.

Supporters say efforts to expand bottle redemption have languished for 15 years even though passage of an updated bill would reduce litter, clean up the environment and save money for cities and towns.

But critics say the redemption changes would hurt beverage retailers close to non-bottle redemption, border states such as New Hampshire. Opponents also say the bill would place a burden on retailers because they would be forced to absorb the costs of bigger redemption facilities to take in items like bottled water and Gatorade bottles.

Rep. Douglas Petersen, D-Marblehead, lead sponsor on one bottle redemption expansion bill (H 3356), said an expanded redemption program would bulk up municipal budgets. If more bottles were redeemable, Petersen said, trash fees would fall because more bottles would be recycled rather than thrown away as trash.

Among the supporters of expanded bottle redemption is Mayor Thomas Menino, who backs a second redemption expansion bill (H 3392) is sponsored by Rep. Martha Walz, D-Boston.

The original bottle bill, which provides 5-cent redemption on cans and bottles that hold carbonated beverages such as soda and beer, was passed 25 years ago.

Representatives from the Sierra Club said that because most unredeemable plastic bottles are made out of petroleum-based materials, expanding the law's reach would encourage recycling and improve the environment. The Massachusetts Coalition of Redemption Centers supports the bill because it would bring in additional revenue to redemption center businesses.

"The bottle bill is the most effective anti-litter program we've ever had," said Phillip Sego, a member of the Sierra Club, which reports 25,000 members in Massachusetts.

But retailers and some recycling businesses oppose the bill. Package store owners on the New Hampshire border say they are losing sales to New Hampshire stores that sell cheaper products. They say customers pay for beer in New Hampshire then redeem the cans in Massachusetts, meaning a double loss for Massachusetts retailers.

Representatives from "mom and pop" package stores and Shaw's Supermarkets Inc. said expanding bottle redemption would be a burden because additional equipment costs and loss of retail space would hurt store revenue.

"The bottle bill is obsolete, it's seen its day," said John Harrington, a Chelmsford resident whose family has owned and operated Harrington Wine and Liquors in Chelmsford for 60 years.

If redemption is expanded, opponents said, recycling companies would lose $1.6 million a year because less bottles would be picked up by recycling trucks that get paid by volume, said Sean Duffy, president of FCR Recycling, a Vermont-based company that has recycling operations in Massachusetts.

"People think if they vote against it they will be non-environmental," said Duffy. "That couldn't be further from the truth."

Frank Anzalotti, the executive director of the Massachusetts Package Store Association, said a culture of recycling starts from curbside, mandatory, community-based recycling programs, not because of bottle redemption.

"We're teaching the wrong thing that one product has value and another is trash," said Anzalotti.

Despite the opposition Petersen said he is confident the bill would move ahead this year. Petersen said Gov. Deval Patrick, a former executive at Coca-Cola Co., has publicly supported the bill. Patrick aides could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Previous bids to expand the bill have failed despite advances in states like California, Maine and Vermont.

"The stumbling block is inertia. This is not a crisis, there is no blood in the streets," said Janet Domenitz, executive director of MassPIRG, which also supports the bill.

Representatives from both sides of the expanded bottle bill testified during a hearing of the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, which is co-chaired by Rep. Brian Dempsey, D-Haverhill, and Sen. Michael Morrissey,D-Quincy. Both sipped from water bottles during the meeting.

http://www.iberkshires.com/story/25006/Advocates-Push-to-Update-Bottle-Law.html