February 8, 2008
Measure would add 5-cent deposit to cans, bottles
Beverage bottles, cans would carry 5-cent deposit
By James Carlson
Don't throw away that bottle yet.
Under a bill heard Thursday in the Senate Natural Resources Committee, Kansans could receive 5 cents for every can or bottle returned to a retailer.
Joe Remigio bags beer for Keith Bennett at Jac's Liquor World at 5200 S.W. 21st. In a proposed bill, bottles could be returned for 5 cents.
The proposal offering redeemable deposits could help Kansas recycle up to 60 percent of the 2 billion beverage containers sold in the state each year, said Bill Bider, director of waste management with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
That would be 600 million additional containers recycled each year.
But some retailers want to trash the idea. The measure, they say, would make it difficult to store all of the containers brought in, and other opponents question the true environmental impact of the bill.
Eleven states have drink container deposit laws, according to Bider. Wholesalers would charge the retailers 5 cents per container, which the retailer would then add to the cost of each beverage.
Customers could then bring the can or bottle back in to redeem the deposit. The bill includes cans and glass and plastic bottles containing alcohol and soda. It doesn't include water bottles.
Bider said if enacted, the law would cost $300,000 to implement and an additional $600,000 annually to run the program.
Supporters said the bill would conserve valuable landfill space.
The proposal would give people incentives not to "litter our country roadsides and urban landscapes," said Ron Klataske, executive director of the Audubon of Kansas.
But Bob Alderson, spokesman for Casey's General Stores, said the proposal could result in rodents and cockroaches.
"Separating out the cans and bottles is a dirty, stinky and sticky responsibility," Alderson said.
He said space issues with storing redeemed containers could be overwhelming, though the bill includes a provision to address that concern.
After retailers accept the can or bottle and pay the 5 cents, they send the container back to the wholesaler who then gives the retailer the 5 cents plus a 2-cent fee for having to store the containers.
That item in the proposal, however, has wholesalers crying foul, and Bider said it is conceivable that wholesalers will lose money on the program.
Bider also said while the decreased use of landfills is good, he isn't sure the net environmental impact is positive. He said the amount of gas used to transport the bottles and cans to a recycling center and the amount of energy expended by container-storage facilities comes close to offsetting any positive effect.
"We believe the intent behind this bill is laudable," said Neal Whitaker, spokesman for the Kansas Beer Wholesalers Association. "We believe, however, that the consequences will be the opposite of the intention."
There was no date set for the committee to vote on the bill.
James Carlson can be reached at (785) 233-7470 or james.carlson@cjonline.com.
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/020808/sta_244953285.shtml
