Editorial

Take one down and recycle it

Iowa's bottle bill took effect in 1979, and for nearly 30 years cans and bottles in the state have cost consumers an extra nickel. Originally, the aim was to reduce litter by giving patrons incentive to get their nickels back, but just like the afro, disco, and "The Love Boat," the bottle bill has become antiquated.

At present, consumers receive 5 cents back for each can or bottle they return. Distributors take the empties from the retailers and give them 6 cents apiece, a penny of which goes to cover the expense of sorting the recyclable containers. Money taken from deposits that isn't paid back to consumers goes to the distributor. In 1979, a gallon of gas was 90 cents, the federal minimum wage was $2.80, and bottle and can redemption centers got a penny per container for their troubles. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Few people would pick up a nickel off the ground should they walk past it. Fewer people would pick up a sticky, wet, crumpled can, yet that's what we're asking of redemption centers, only we ask them to so do thousands of times a week.

Revising the bottle bill was one of the main points in Gov. Chet Culver's Condition of the State address earlier this month. Culver wants to include sports drinks and water bottles in order to rein in the waste from an expanding market. He also wants to increase the deposit to 10 cents per item. Doubling the deposit might create more incentive for most Iowans to return the empty containers, but the governor has other plans for your extra nickel.

Culver's proposal would take one of the extra pennies and give it to redemption centers as an increased handling fee from what the distributor already gives them. Another penny would go to state environmental funds. The consumer would get the remaining 8 cents back. The uncollected deposit money would go to the state under the proposal.

Environmentally conscious Iowans cry foul that more of the money wouldn't go to the state's Resource Enhancement and Protection program. Even though the estimated amount generated through the penny-per-deposit would be $20 million, critics point out that only one in four requests for funding through the resource program are granted each year. The Iowa Grocery Industry Association is against the pitch, citing predictions of an increase in production costs by 24 cents per case, not to mention the extra work the change would create for them. Consumers will likely gripe about their lost 2 cents and deem it a tax.

The bottle bill isn't perfect now, and it wouldn't be perfect at a dime per item, but it's a step in the right direction. Covering additional products such as water and juice will increase redemption rates while doing more to keep Iowa clean. If we get that upset over giving a penny to vendors and a penny to our environment than it's possible we need to lay off the caffeine, or the beer.

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