February 11, 2008
Panel discussion pours out plenty of ideas on bottle bill
By SCOTT NILES
OTTUMWA — An old “bottle bill” is getting recycled into a new issue.
Gov. Chet Culver brought up the old law, which was put into effect in 1978, adding a 5-cent deposit to every soda bottle. Originally the governor wanted to raise the deposit to 10 cents, setting aside 1 cent for the redemption centers and 1 cent for environmental programs. The other 8 cents would go back to the consumer. The other half of the bill would expand the product category to include milk and juice containers and other bottled beverages. Recently, Culver said he would drop the deposit increase but has still been pushing for the expanded product coverage.
Monday night the League of Women Voters held a panel discussion for the public to discuss some other ideas. Panel members included: Pam Shepard from Tenco Industries, Director of Health, Inspections and Solid Waste for Ottumwa Jody Gates, Ottumwa City Council member Shannon Addison and Hy-Vee South Manager Matt Heldenbrand.
Each of the members offered opinions as to what they think could be a possible solution for the somewhat “fizzy” proposal.
Most of the solutions in the room seemed to center around Tenco Industries, Ottumwa’s only redemption center and Ottumwa’s recycling center.
As it stands, Tenco barely gets by with the workload they have from a handful of distributors, let alone adding an increase in the number of distributors they would have to serve.
“Right now we pay 6-and-a-half cents per can, but we only get 6 cents per can,” Shepard said. “So we’re already losing.”
Several crowd members tossed in the idea of raising the deposit by 1 cent, adding that as a tax for handlers.
“That would give us enough money to stay afloat,” Shepard said.
The other major suggestion was for people to recycle more.
“Ottumwa is one of the lucky cities that has curbside pickup,” said Gates.
Though dozens of ideas were tossed around at the discussion, the main two focused on recycling and redemption.
Addison said she believes that not all solutions have to do with higher taxation.
“Why should the solution always rest on the shoulder of the citizens?” she asked. “I can understand a 1-cent tax to go to help the redemption center, but if you expand to other products, that will just add to the work the redemption center has to do.”
With a staff of seven to 21 workers every day sorting cans and bottles, Shepard said there is no way they would be able to handle the increase if the bill was passed to expand to other bottle and jug products.
“Ideally, we need to find a solution that can help the environment and the consumer both,” Heldenbrand said. “We are creative people; I’m sure we can think outside the box.”
Scott Niles can be reached at (641) 683-5360 or via e-mail at sjniles@mchsi.com.
http://www.ottumwacourier.com/local/local_story_042231943.html
