July 13, 2009
Duxbury
Duxbury selectmen support expanded bottle bill
Duxbury - Duxbury selectmen support an expanded bottle bill, with one caveat.
They don't want any uncollected deposits to go into the state’s general fund.
In voting their support of a resolution from the South Shore Recycling Cooperative calling for the expansion of the bottle bill to include non-carbonated beverages, selectmen added a provision asking that any uncollected deposits be spent on environmental programs.
The proposal to support expanding the bottle bill was brought forward by DPW director Peter Buttkus two weeks as a means of reducing the amount of waste the town collects.
When he first presented the idea to selectmen, Buttkus said the town spends "tens of thousands of dollars picking up trash," much of it being water and sports drink bottles.
"We spend a tremendous amount of time" picking up plastic bottles at sporting events and on roadsides, said Buttkus in an interview.
A press release from SSRC states that 68 percent of beer and soda containers are redeemed for their deposit, while only a third of noncarbonated beverages are recycled.
At that time, selectmen chairman Elizabeth Sullivan expressed concern that money from unclaimed deposits would go into what she termed the "black hole" of the state's general fund.
The bill is currently before the legislature and is scheduled for a hearing in the fall.
The 5-cent deposit bottle became a reality in Massachusetts in 1981, and Buttkus said it had been effective in reducing the amount of litter on the streets.
Video available at http://www.wickedlocal.com/duxbury/news/x737368953/VIDEO-Duxbury-selectmen-support-expanded-bottle-bill
