April 26, 2008
Recycling bill won't include water bottles
By Brian Lockhart
HARTFORD -- The General Assembly appears poised to pass legislation expanding recycling within the state -- just not the so-called bottle bill that would place nickel deposits on water bottles.
The co-chairmen of the legislature's Environment Committee yesterday said it is likely a proposal to expand curbside recycling will instead be approved before the session ends May 7.
For several years, lawmakers have sought to expand the state's bottle redemption program for beer and soda to water, juices, flavored teas and energy drinks.
Proponents came close last year, but could not overcome intense lobbying by beverage companies and supermarkets that did not want to handle the additional waste.
This year, the proposal was tailored to cover only water bottles.
But the bill does not have support in the House of Representatives, Sen. Edward Meyer, D-Guilford, an Environmental Committee co-chairman, said yesterday.
Meyer said Senate President Pro Tempore Donald Williams, D-Brooklyn, asked him to gauge House leaders' thoughts on the bottle bill before the Senate considered whether to vote on it.
"So I went down and talked to House leaders and they indicated to me there was no signal that the House would ever take it up," Meyer said.
Co-chairman Rep. Richard Roy, D-Milford, did not go that far but called the bill a "moving target."
Meyer said the news this week that James Amann, D-Milford, will not return as House speaker could affect the future of the measure.
"I think there's a feeling that we're going to get a new speaker who may not have the alliances the current speaker has and we are going to have a better shot at passing a bill next session," Meyer said.
Amann's spokesman, Larry Perosino, said if there were enough support for the bottle bill among the House's rank-and-file members, the speaker would allow it to come up for a vote.
But Amann confirmed that he opposes the bill. He said he believes expanding the bottle redemption program would place an unfair financial burden on supermarkets during a poor economy.
Amann said he plans to support what he considers to be a better proposal, also backed by Meyer and Roy -- the so-called single-stream recycling bill.
The proposed legislation would establish single-stream pilot programs in a handful of municipalities.
"Why would you go with this pilot program and then do the bottle bill at the same time?" Amann said.
That opinion is shared by spokesmen for Greenwich-based Nestle Waters North America, who say the firm loses money in Maine's expanded bottle redemption program.
Because its bottles are distributed differently than beer or soda, the redemption process is more complicated for the company, Nestle said.
"A nickel on a bottle is very likely to get that into the recycling stream," Flaherty said. "However, the proposal will bring it into a beer and soda system that just doesn't work for our product."
http://www.greenwichtime.com/ci_9061514
