September 30, 2009
5¢ deposit now on water bottles
Kim Iannucci lumbered out of the Meriden ShopRite Wednesday carrying a case of bottled water. It was a deal she couldn't resist: 50 percent off because of a sale, but she was also saving money on each bottle.
Under a new state law, effective today, bottled water customers like Iannucci will pay 5 cents extra per bottle, which they will be able to redeem if they return the empty bottles to a store or redemption center. State lawmakers passed the legislation in February in an attempt to reduce litter and increase state revenues.
Iannucci, of Meriden, said she likes the new law because it will reduce rubbish.
"I think it's a good idea, since it gets people to recycle," she said, adding that recycling water bottles will not be much of a hassle for her. "I return cans, so it's all one in the same for me."
State Rep. Mary Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, said she has long been in favor of the law, since water bottles have become a major litter problem. Mushinsky, executive director of the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association, has photos showing a massive cluster of water bottles and other refuse dammed up at Sodom Brook.
"They tend to linger in the parks and streets and streams because they, up until tomorrow, didn't have a value," she said Wednesday. "Once they have a deposit value, they will be picked up."
Children's groups, social service organizations and the homeless all trade in old refundable bottles to raise money, she said, a process that helps the person returning the bottles and the environment.
The state Department of Environmental Protection estimates that 500 million water bottles are sold in Connecticut annually, and the state estimates it will receive $17 million annually in unclaimed deposits on water bottles. A new law this year enables the state to collect unclaimed bottle deposits, money previously claimed by the beverage companies.
But beverage companies say expanding the redemption bill to water increases their workload and results in hidden costs, especially now that they cannot keep unclaimed deposits. Coca Cola Enterprises, for instance, is tacking a non-refundable 3.5-cent "recycling fee" on all deposit beverages in the state, effective today, according to a memo sent from the company to retailers in August.
Greenwich-based Nestle Waters North America will also have to raise prices on bottled water sold in Connecticut to cover the additional costs, said company spokesman Brian Flaherty.
"There are costs to this bottle bill," he said. "It is complicated and expensive."
Nestle, which distributes Poland Spring products and other brands, must now place special tags on bottled water that will be sold in the state, he said. Like other beverage firms in Connecticut, the company will also be responsible for reclaiming the empty bottles that are returned to stores, he said.
But Mushinsky said drink companies had seven months to get ready for the law and that the system already works efficiently with traditional deposit items like beer or soda. While the change risks increasing production costs for bottled water, Mushinsky said legislators moved forward with the understanding that the product is generally a luxury item, not a necessity. Most people, she said, can get free drinking water from their tap.
Nestle was supportive of a proposal by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell earlier this year to "modernize" the state's bottle bill. Rell's proposal called for a 5-cent deposit on water and other bottled drinks, but also created incentives for curbside recycling and reduced some of the burden on beverage companies.
The proposal never gained traction in the legislature, however, and Rell said this week that the approved bottle bill expansion makes "absolute environmental sense" since it will reduce waste.
But Flaherty said the law will burden retailers, who will have to keep track of and report how many bottles they sell and how many are returned.
Top's Market in Southington won't have much trouble implementing the new law, said owner John Salerno, but he expects it will be more difficult for smaller markets that don't have a developed bottle return system.
Larry Aresco, owner of Aresco's Superette in Meriden, said the new law primarily means more work for his small store. Workers must bag returned bottles to give back to distributers.
Aresco also believes the bottle law will not stop the persistence of litter.
"It's just another way of the government making money," he said.
That opinion is shared by state Sen. Leonard Fasano, R-North Haven, who said the legislation gained traction this year only because the state was facing a budget crisis. If the state really had the environment in mind, he said, it should have applied the redemption law to all juice bottles. The law, for instance, does not include sports drinks such as Gatorade.
Rell spokesman Rich Harris, however, said the primary purpose of the law is to reduce pollution.
"The fundamental goal is to encourage recycling and reduce waste ... and have a cleaner state," he said. "That's a worthwhile goal."
The original bottle bill took effect in 1980 requiring a 5-cent deposit on beer, soda or other carbonated drinks. Legislators at the time did not anticipate how popular water would become as a bottled beverage. Water bottles purchased before today cannot be redeemed unless they have a tag stating they are redeemable in Connecticut.
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