March 3, 2008
House committee gives thumbs up to expanded bottle bill plan
By Whitney Woodward
DES MOINES--A plan to encourage more recycling by adding juice, tea, water and sports drink bottles to the state’s 5-cent bottle deposit program advanced out of a House committee Monday.
“If the goal is ... maximizing recycling, diverting waste from landfills, conserving resources, then we should employ all means possible to achieve those goals,” said Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, one of the bill’s backers.
The bill that advanced Monday would increase the types of containers accepted under the state’s 30-year-old redemption program, dubbed the Bottle Bill.
Under current law, only metal, glass and plastic containers for alcoholic and carbonated beverages are covered by the deposit program.
Bottle Bill backers say increasing the types of containers included in the program would encourage people to recycle their bottles to get the nickel back they pay when purchasing the drink.
“We can’t be a throwaway society,” Wessel-Kroeschell said on the need for recycling programs. “I believe we need options. I believe that the bottle bill is a very good option for that. It’s been successful.”
The bill also would double the fee bottle distributors pay the redemption centers for handling the containers, to two cents from one.
Boosting that rate is designed to appease redemption centers officials who have long argued that accepting the bottles is a losing game, financially.
Wessel-Kroeschell said doubling the rate will keep redemption centers in business, and perhaps encourage new ones to open.
Lawmakers on the House Environmental Protection Committee voted 13-7 to advance the plan over the objections of some lawmakers who said the measure would punish people who already recycle.
To get their nickel back, Iowans would now have to haul their bottles to a redemption center instead of plopping them in a curbside recycling bin n if such a program exists in their area, said Rep. Tom Sands, R-Columbus Junction.
“This seems to be more of a nuisance,” said Sands, who voted against the plan. “I understand that it’s trying to get more of the litter out of the ditches, but it seems to me you’re penalizing those of us who have been recycling all along.”
The legislation approved by the committee Monday is a scaled-back version of a plan pushed by Gov. Chet Culver earlier this year.
The Democratic governor’s plan would have included the types of bottles included in the deposit program while doubling the deposit to 10 cents. Of that dime, however, consumers would have received only 8 cents back for returning the container.
Culver’s original plan never gained traction in the Legislature, but Monday’s vote signals there may be some momentum to move his second draft forward.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, said Monday his chamber’s Democrats will caucus privately to discuss the proposal before deciding whether or not to bring the proposal up for a vote before the full body.
Last year, McCarthy didn’t have the necessary 51 House votes to pass a redemption center handling fee increase.
But McCarthy said he senses renewed momentum from his members to expand the Bottle Bill this year.
“It’s got legs,” McCarthy said.
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/03/03/news/latest_news/5f503b7bec04c13d862574010081b487.txt
