October 20, 2008
Opinion
A dime is fine: Update the bottle bill
It seems to me that the task force recommending sweeping changes in the bottle bill to the next Legislature has put together a solid package of ideas. It calls for doubling the nickel deposit to a dime, adding deposits for more drinks and establishing redemption centers funded by grocers and bottlers.
The OregonianFormer Gov. Tom McCall (right) and Secretary of State Clay Myers made a point of their support for Oregon's original bottle bill.
As Scott Learn of The Oregonian reported, the task force wasn't unanimous in its recommendations. The trio of task force representatives of grocers and bottlers submitted a minority report that called many of the proposed changes "premature at best." The grocers and bottlers recommend that Oregon sit tight on the bottle bill and see the effects of adding water bottles before adopting further changes in the law. The 2007 Legislature added water bottles to the law, and that change takes effect next Jan. 1.
The task-force majority is right to press ahead. It's not like Oregon is a pioneer in this area any longer. MIchigan has had a 10-cent deposit -- and the nation's highest rate of bottle and can returns -- for several years now. Other states have expanded their bottle laws to cover more drinks.
It makes little or no sense to require a deposit for soft drinks but not the sports drinks, coffees, teas, juices and wine coolers that sit side by side with them in markets.
The redemption center issue is the toughest question for policymakers. Consumers clearly prefer being able to return their empty cans and bottles at their local grocer. But the messy returns are clearly a burden on grocers, and one that is not well covered by unclaimed deposits, which go to bottlers and distributors, not grocers.
The task force is recommending a redemption center system that would include up to 90 centers, Learn reported, with grocery stores exempted from taking cans and bottles if they sit within a still-undefined "convenience zone" around the centers. Unredeemed deposits that bottlers and distributors now keep would help fund the centers. That's a promising compromise, but it's sure to be strongly debated in the next Legislature.
Even if the politics are difficult, lawmakers should press ahead on this issue. Oregon's bottle-bill is one of the state's most important environmental laws. It needs to be kept current with the times.
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2008/10/a_dime_is_fine_update_the_botl.html
