March 30, 2008
Redemption centers look to bottle bill for financial survival
By SUSAN HAIGH
HARTFORD, Conn. - Fred Meyers hasn't gotten a raise since 1986. That's when Connecticut last increased the handling fee that redemption centers get for an empty bottle of beer from 1 cent, to 1.5 cents. The 2-cent fee for a soda can or bottle has been in place since 1978, when Connecticut's "Bottle Bill" first began.
Meyers and other owners of an estimated 14 small businesses that solely collect returnable bottles and cans say they can no longer make a living unless the state raises the fee.
They want the General Assembly to pass a bill that extends the 5 cent deposit to bottles that hold water, tea and power drinks. Besides providing an increase in volume, the bill also would boost the handling fee on all returnable bottles and cans to 3 cents beginning Oct. 1.
"I will not be in business if this law does not pass," said Meyers.
Meyers has worked in the redemption business since 1982. He opened his own Stratford redemption center in 1994 and is hoping to hold on a little longer.
"I'm giving myself a three-year window. Once my lease is up, there is no reason for me to go even further," he said.
Connecticut's handling fee, which is paid by beverage distributors to redemption centers and the retailers who redeem containers, is the lowest in the region. Massachusetts provides 2.25 cents; Maine 3.5 cents; Vermont 3.5 cents; and New York 2 cents.
John and Denise Ancheff, owners of DJ's Redemption Center in Waterbury, say they're also on the verge of closing. Their expenses, from the cost of labor to the plastic bags that hold the 7 million bottles and cans they receive annually, are on the rise.
"It's coming to the point where it's not economical. We have a hard time paying our bills," said John Ancheff. "If they fix it and make it a little bit more economical, it would be a decent business. You're not going to be a millionaire doing it, but you can live decent."
The bill's fate is in doubt. Past efforts to add water bottles and other beverage containers to the carbonated drinks currently redeemed have failed, as well as attempts to increase the handling fees.
The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut oppose the bill. In written testimony, the group said the legislation will ultimately increase costs to consumers. Besides covering the handling fee, they must pay their employees to pick up the returns and pay to dispose redeemed containers.
Currently, they only handle glass and aluminum containers. With a third product, plastic, they believe their prices would have to increase about 10 to 15 cents per unit, to offset the additional cost.
"This wholesaler price increase would likely result in an increase in prices to the consumer," the group wrote.
The Connecticut Food Association, which represents grocers, also opposes the bill. Association director Stan Sorkin said the legislature should not be focusing changing the old "Bottle Bill." Rather, his group is backing a plan that creates pilot programs for a so-called single stream curbside recycling program, where residents could put all their recyclables into one large bin.
"The key is increasing overall recycling rates, not just concentrating on a few cans and bottles," he said.
Sorkin's members would hypothetically benefit from a higher handling fee. Most supermarkets operate machines that accept redeemable bottles and cans. But he's not enthusiastic about the idea.
"Would it help a little? Yes. But it gets away from the main solution to the problem," he said.
Sorkin, who believes Connecticut's law is outdated, said the state should focus on creating a convenient, clean way of collecting as much recyclable material as possible.
"We'd rather not take a position on increasing handling fees. If someone wants to increase them, we obviously say fine," he said. "The big picture says, bring everything curbside and get your overall recycling up."
Rep. Mary Mushinsky said even if the single stream curbside recycling bill becomes law, the "Bottle Bill" is still needed because single stream won't combat litter. That's why she believes the redemption centers are still viable and needed.
"The Bottle Bill is the device that is used to pick up containers that slobs have strewn on the landscape," said Mushinsky, D-Wallingford. "You're always going to have slobs and you can't legislate them away. The Bottle Bill, the beauty of it is, some people are willing to go out and return the containers and cash them in."
She points to charities such as Boys and Girls Clubs who collect cans and bottles to raise money. Ancheff, of DJ's Redemption Center, estimates he's given out almost $30,000 to groups like the Boy Scouts who've collected massive amounts of cans over the last three years.
Unlike grocery stores, Ancheff doesn't have machines in his facility. Rather, people bring in bags of cans and bottles, which are sorted by Ancheff's staff.
"They improve the community just by their existence. I want them to make it," Mushinsky said. "I really do hope they succeed."
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-ct-xgr--redemptioncen0330mar30,0,4301336.story
