November 17, 2010
Confusion Lingers Over Changes To Bottle Bill
Some Stores Charge Deposit When They Shouldn't
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Being overcharged by a nickel doesn't sound like much, but over time it could add up. The Channel 3 Eyewitness News I-Team discovered a local business was overcharging the nickel for certain kinds of drinks, and now some are saying the bottle bill is to blame.So many brands, so many flavors and so many bottle
deposits you might end up paying a nickel for, but just how many nickels should you be shelling out?Channel 3 Eyewitness News I-Team reporter Hallie Jackson bought Gatorade and juice as a gas station in Rocky Hill and in Berlin, but the reciepts show that the five-cent
deposit was paid, when it shouldn't have.That's because the new bottle bill, that went into effect in October, put a deposit on water products in addition to drinks like soda, but
sports drinks and juices are the exceptions to the bill.The I-Team wanted to find out why people were being charged a nickel for bottles you can't redeem in Connecticut."It's confusing for us," said store owner Vijay Patel. "It's hard to figure out, you know?"At the first store, Patel explained he had no idea he wasn't supposed to charge the deposit on certain bottles and said he has been charging the deposit for more than a year, and only after the I-Team's first visit said he called around to his distributors and realized his mistake."Thanks that you come and at least somebody noticed," Patel said. "It's easy to find it out. They're supposed to tell us at least when they change the law."Patel said he has friends who own other stores and are confused as well.At a store in Berlin, the store owner knew the rules, but said because cashiers have to press a special bottle deposit button, sometimes human error gets in the way.Both locations refunded the nickel, but appeared that the confusion may extend beyond the stores themselves.Hector Vasquez said he redeems bottles every week, but didn't realize the sports drink exception until the I-Team told him."They sell it," he said. "I figure, they add five cents to your bill, you should be able to get five cents back."The Department of Environmental Protection, which handles the bottle redemption program, said the new rules have been a lot for people to absorb."It was a major change," said Dennis Schain, of the DEP. "It went well, not necessarily perfect everywhere."In the few months after the law went into effect, a spokesman said the DEP received 206 complaints about redemption issues, about double its usual number."We could always do more," said Schain. "I think we did a pretty good job and everyone's catching up with requirements and it seems to be going pretty well now."He also pointed out one big advantage to the new rules -- money.The money is piling up in state coffers since Connecticut gets the funds from non-redeemed bottles.This spring, that meant Connecticut pulled in $9.9 million, or almost 200 million nickles."That's a lot of nickels," Schain said. "That's having a positive impact on state finances."Some say it has a positive impact on the environment too.Even if it requires an extra step to check your receipts, because even though it may just be five cents, it's worth it.
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