Editorial

Recycling law laudable, but more action is needed

North Carolina lawmakers passed a law in 2005 requiring all Alcohol Beverage Control permit holders to recycle their beverage containers. The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2008.

Despite having more than two years to get ready, some business owners say they are scrambling to comply. Procrastination is a trait many of us share, but it’s hard to muster much sympathy.

Less glass in landfills

The law should increase the amount of glass being recycled by 50,000 tons per year, doubling the amount recycled in the state, said Scott Mouw, recycling supervisor for North Carolina. That 50,000 tons of glass that won’t be filling up county landfills, which cost taxpayers a fortune to build and which are increasingly hard to site because nobody wants one nearby.

The law also will provide more glass to businesses that use it. The creation of a steady, dependable stream of recycled glass may even encourage such businesses to locate in Western North Carolina.

More to the point, some ABC permit holders already recycle, about 3 percent statewide and about 13 percent in Buncombe County. If they’ve figured out how to do it, other permit holders can also.

Credit due, but ...

Lawmakers deserve credit for passing the bill, which puts the onus on restaurants and bars to recycle.

So far, they’ve dodged dealing with a much tougher recycling bill. Members of the N.C. Senate Commerce Committee bowed to powerful lobbying groups and killed a bottle deposit bill during the 2007 General Assembly session.

That bill would have significantly reduced the volume of material going into landfills and reduced the amount of litter on the state’s roadsides.

‘Popular with the people’

“I have touched no bill since I have been in the legislature that was more popular with the people — or more despised by the opposition,” said Sen. Doug Berger,

D-Franklin County, the bottle deposit bill’s main sponsor.

That opposition consisted of more than two dozen corporations and powerful lobbyists.

About 40-60 percent of roadside litter is glass, aluminum and plastic beverage containers. It’s better for the environment and far more cost-effective to recycle those containers. North Carolina spent $16.6 million to remove 10.1 million pounds of roadside litter in 2006, according to the Raleigh News & Observer.

Getting the message

Even beverage companies are beginning to get the message that something has to change, according to a story published in the Wall Street Journal in September. Coca-Cola Co., which has a 36 percent share of the $106 billion-a-year U.S. nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverage business, says it plans to build a plant to recycle as many as 2 billion 20-ounce bottles a year.

The American Beverage Association trade group has formed a task force to look for ways to spark more consumer interest in recycling. No doubt the association hopes to stave off bottle deposit bills like the one that couldn’t get traction in the N.C. Senate earlier this year.

Unfortunately, laws that mandate or provide incentives have so far been the only effective way to increase recycling. The Container Recycling Institute, a nonprofit group that supports deposit laws, says the beverage-container recycling rate in deposit states is about 70 percent, while it is about 34 percent nationwide, the Journal reported.

Bill could resurface

The bottle deposit bill could come back up the state legislature in the short session if constituents put enough pressure on their senators.

Besides the ever-growing costs associated with landfills, as the state’s population continues to grow, there will be fewer and fewer places where they can be sited without major opposition. The bottle deposit bill would require consumers to pay a 10-cent deposit, which they would be able to recover at private redemption centers.

Tell your state representatives and senators that you appreciate them for passing the law requiring ABC permit holders to recycle. Now they need to pass a bottle deposit bill.

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