January 26, 2009
Legislators consider expanding bottle bill
Hartford – A bipartisan group of legislators called Monday for the expansion of the state’s bottle and can redemption program, saying a higher deposit and broader application of the recycling incentive could reduce litter and raise millions in state revenue.
Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, and Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, joined environmental advocates and fellow lawmakers in calling for the expansion of the bottle deposit to a broad swath of containers not currently covered by the existing “bottle bill,” including water and juice containers.
They also called for an increase in handling fees paid to retail outlets who must handle bottle returns, and an increase, from 5 cents to 10 cents, in the amount of the state’s deposit on recyclables.
Such policies have dramatically increased recycling rates in other states, the legislators said.
Expanding the program to new containers would also increase state revenue, Williams said, one reason the legislators were confident that this was the year water bottles and other exempt containers would finally be brought into the recycling program, despite the fervent objection of beverage distributors and retailers.
Applying a 5-cent deposit to the millions of currently exempt containers could raise an additional $12 million a year for the state in unclaimed deposits, Williams said.
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=09fb9867-9a76-486e-b538-221eec12a5ca
