June 2, 2007
Editorial
Would a 'bottle bill' work in Nevada?
By Josh Johnson
"Bud ... Miller ... Bud ... Coors ... Pepsi ... Coke ... Pabst ..."So went my days sorting bottles and cans returned for deposit at a convenience store in Michigan. The occasional cigarette or wad of chewing tobacco shoved inside containers made the
laborious process of accepting returnables, paying customers and sorting them for local
distributors
especially pleasant.
Michigan, like 10 other states, has a bottle bill that requires a deposit be paid on bottles and cans (beverages vary by state) upon purchase. The money is later redeemed when the containers are returned.
On May 24 the Oregon House passed Senate Bill 707, which adds a 5-cent deposit to water bottles. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski has vowed to sign the bill. Of the 11 states that have bottle bill laws, only Maine and Hawaii include water bottles. Oregon, which pioneered the country's first bottle bill in 1971, now appears to be tackling non-carbonated beverage containers in an effort further curb littering.
But would a bottle bill ever fly in Nevada? It's an interesting question I've heard around town a few times, and the concept has its merits.
Residents are given the financial incentive to recycle. Less waste goes into local landfills. According to information compiled by the Container Recycling Institute, states with container deposit laws have higher rates of recycling than states without them. In Michigan, the beverage container redemption rate is more than 95 percent, while the U.S. average is about 35 percent.
And from my observations while living in Michigan, where bottles and cans fetch 10 cents each, seldom did a returnable beverage container remain on the ground for long.
But there are detriments. Retailers are required to accept bottles and cans that they sell, meaning additional labor is needed for collection and sorting. Bottle and can fraud, such as importing containers from other states, is a problem. There is also the issue of lost revenue from municipal recycling programs that already exist.
Two of the states where bottle bills are most prominent, Oregon and Michigan, aren't known for being business friendly, and their economies are proof. In Oregon, assisted suicide is legal but you can't pump your own gas, for crying out loud, because jobs have to be provided for gas station attendants through state legislation.
I'd love to see Nevada's streets and highways free of bottles and cans. More importantly, I'd love to see Nevadans heed the advice that our mothers gave us as children - pick up after yourself. The city of Fallon offers recycling of plastic and aluminum beverage containers, though the process of transporting items to the facility on North Maine Street isn't convenient for some residents.
A change to decrease litter in Nevada should be intrinsic and cultural, not legislative and at the expense of local businesses. Until that happens, if it ever does, keep it clean.
http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20070602/Opinion/106020030
