March 14, 2008

Redemption centers prepare petitions, plan to meet with legislators
By WES KAPPELMAN

OSKALOOSA— Redemption store owners are gathering petitions and preparing to meet Iowa legislators next week about an increase in the handling fee from one cent to two cents.

House File 2537, introduced by the committee on environmental protection on March 6, would increase the number of containers with a deposit and increase the handling fee from one cent to two cents.

Groups that have supported HF 2537 bottle bill include the Iowa Environmental Council, the Iowa Recycling Association, the Iowa State Association of Counties and the Izaak Walton League’s Iowa Division. Groups against the bill include distributors, grocers and the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.

Approximately 1.65 billion containers are redeemed annually in Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. By increasing the handling fee by a penny, an additional $165 million would go to handlers from distributors.

Indian Can Kountry owner Tom Pitts has offered customers the chance to sign a petition called “Save Iowa’s Bottle Bill.” As of March 11, he had approximately 550 signatures. The petition reads, “We the people of Iowa would like you to vote yes to give redemption centers a 1 cent handling fee increase, to come from the distributors.”

Pitts said most customers choose to sign the petition.

Next week, a group of redemption center owners will travel to Des Moines to present petitions and talk to legislators.

“We’re going to tell them this is what we need to keep us alive,” Pitts said.

Pitts said he has been trying for a penny increase to the handling fee for nine or 10 years. Every year, they put something together and then every year they throw it out, he said.

Rose Shepard, spokeswoman for the Iowa Bottle Bill Coalition, runs a redemption center in Montezuma. She said in the last five years, the number of redemption centers in Iowa has decreased from approximately 400 to approximately 100.

Shepard has been part of the petition drive to the Legislature for the past five years.

“This will be my last year; we’ll either get it or I will close,” Shepard said. “If we’re going to get it any year, it’s going to be this year.”

Shepard said an election year will take attention away from the bottle bill. She said it needs to pass before the elections.

A state lawmaker weighed in on the issue.

State Rep. Eric Palmer, D-Oskaloosa, said it is most important to add another penny for the redemption centers.

“I’m glad to hear they are gearing up and trying to get something done,” Palmer said.

“They’re going to close if they don’t get a little help,” Palmer said.

He said he would have to study the effect of expanding the bottle bill to cover more containers.

However, grocers say they can’t handle more bottles coming back for redemption.

Phillip Nicolino, a communications specialist for the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, said stores can’t handle additional bottles being brought back.

“We are still opposed to the expansion of the bottle bill in its current form,” Nicolino said.

He also said an increase to the handling fee would raise the price for every bottle with a deposit.

The IGIA is a big proponent for curbside recycling across the board, Nicolino said.

University Park has curbside recycling. The town uses a sticker-based program for garbage collection that includes recycling pickup, Local Disposal, Inc., owner Allan McGriff said.

McGriff said approximately two-thirds of University Park use the recycling program.

Midwest Sanitation owner Lyle Vander Meiden said a change to the bottle bill will not affect curbside recycling. He said if legislators did away with the bottle bill, recycling centers are capable of performing services, but it would put redemption centers out of business.

If the bottle bill is expanded to cover more bottles, it will cut into his recycling center’s business. He estimated that 20 percent of his business was in container recycling, which includes tin cans and milk jugs.

Vander Meiden said aluminum has become a commodity, similar to copper. If there was no bottle bill, his business would most likely collect more aluminum.

The problem arises from why the original bottle bill was introduced. Vander Meiden said without a deposit, people may not collect the cans people throw out on the highway, unless the value of aluminum made it worth picking up those cans.

Brad Anderson, Communications Director for Gov. Chet Culver, said the governor supports the House bill.

Equally important to the governor are the expansion to include more bottles and doubling the handling fee, Anderson said.

“It’s very important these redemption centers get what they need to survive,” Anderson said. “From the start, he has made helping Iowa’s redemption centers a priority.”

He said the governor has been flexible. Culver has back off on his plan to raise the deposit to 10 cents and fund REAP through the deposit program.

“This bill really does represent the middle ground,” Anderson said.

Anderson said an argument was brought up by Mason City kids that if the bottle bill was expanded to more containers, there would be a financial incentive to pick up bottles left under the bleachers after football games.
Herald Staff Writer Wes Kappelman can be reached by e-mail at news2@oskyherald.com