June 7, 2007
Associated Press
Oregon gives landmark bottle bill an upgrade
By AARON CLARK
It was a source of pride 36 years ago, but increasingly Oregon's bottle bill — the first in the nation to require a nickel deposit on soda cans and beer bottles — was a source of embarrassment for Oregon's environmentalists.
The law had hardly changed, and other states were tugging the green mantle from Oregon's shoulders.
But on Thursday the legislation got an upgrade when Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed a measure that extends the recycling act to the plastic water bottles that have become widespread among a younger generation of consumers.
"The bottle bill works, it has worked, it has worked as written in a wonderful way," said Rep. Vicki Berger, R-Salem, whose father inspired and lobbied for the original bottle bill, which passed in 1971. "It is the industry that has changed, and we needed to bring our bottle bill up to what people are buying today."
Other states that have deposits for recycling drink containers are Vermont, Maine, Michigan, Iowa, Massachusetts, Delaware, New York, California and Hawaii. But only Maine and Hawaii call for a nickel deposit on water bottles, according to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
Kulongoski also signed one of the nation's few electronic waste recycling measures. It will allow Oregonians to recycle their obsolete electronics for free by requiring manufacturers to pay for take-back centers across the state.
"This makes it as easy to recycle a TV as it is to buy one," Kulongoski said.
The plan has been heralded for its approach, requiring electronics manufacturers to pay the cost of recycling their products in hopes that market forces would encourage devices that are cheaper to disassemble and less toxic.
The measure covers desktop computers, laptops, monitors and television sets.
Oregonians threw away 32,500 tons of out-of-date electronics in 2005, mostly into landfills or dumps. Many devices contained toxic metals such as mercury, lead or cadmium that could leach into ground water.
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Eds: The bill numbers are SB707 and HB2626.
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