Aug 18, 2009
Weymouth
Expanded bottle bill on tap
Plastic water bottles and cardboard juice containers can be found along the curbsides of any given street and lodged in roadway storm drains.
Weymouth Mayor Susan Kay and Braintree Mayor Joseph Sullivan hope to reduce these eyesores by supporting Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal to expand the state’s bottle bill
“There has been a huge onslaught of discarded plastic water bottles,” Kay said. “They are not being recycled in large quantities. You walk down the street and you can see them in the gutter.”
Lawmakers approved the current bottle bill law in 1982.
The measure requires consumers to pay a 5-cent refundable deposit on all carbonated soda containers, beer bottles, and malt beverage containers.
Buyers can receive a 5-cent refund on each of these bottles they return to redemption bins that are usually located at supermarkets and package stores.
Kay said the bottle bill law needs revisions because the beverage market has changed markedly with the sales of bottled water, fruit drunks, ice tea, and sports beverages during the past decade.
The containers for these drinks do not require a 5-cent deposit under the current legislation.
A press release from Patrick’s office states the purchase of non-carbonated beverages has experienced double-digit growth since 2000, and that this trend is expected to continue.
“However these non-carbonated beverages are not covered by the Bottle Bill, and often end up in landfills or along the side of the road,” said Thomas Dugan.
Both Sullivan and Kay said a recent rubbish audit at a regional refuse center reveals there were 10 times more water and juice containers than the containers that require a nickel deposit by consumers.
Patrick is proposing to update the bottle bill by requiring people to pay a 5-cent refundable deposit on plastic containers that hold water, flavored water drinks, ice tea, sports beverages and sports drinks of less than 1 gallon in size.
“This initiative will expand the market for recyclables, and keep our towns clean while providing additional revenues for recycling and clean water programs,” Dugan said.
Public hearings on the proposal will be held at the State House in early October.
In a written statement, Sullivan said an expanded bottle bill would benefit local communities because there would be less cleanup costs needed in community areas and that civic groups would be able to redeem discarded water and juice containers to defray their expenses.
“The concept of small steps has a way of becoming important to the overall community mind-set and political landscape; and with the success of the regional procurement for our trash program, we continue to look for cutting-edge programs that move economic and environmental issues to the forefront to enhance lifestyles in our communities,” Kay said.
Sullivan and Kay said they hope their local legislators would support revisions to the bottle bill.
Dugan said an expanded bottle bill would provide the state Department of Environmental Protection Agency’s with $5 million for its recycling and solid waste programs.
He additionally said an expansion of the bottle bill’s deposit requirements would provide $10 million for the state’s water and sewer relief fund.
This fund provides rate reductions to communities that are serviced by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/weymouth/news/x772305964/Expanded-bottle-bill-on-tap
