May 27, 2010
Renewed focus on bottle bill
Concord’s ban seen as aiding wider law
Supporters of a proposal to expand the state’s bottle-deposit bill are hoping a recent vote by Concord residents to ban the sale of water in plastic bottles will put a spotlight on recycling efforts and spur lawmakers into passing the bill.
The proposal has been languishing on Beacon Hill for years, perplexing supporters who say it’s a common-sense update to the successful program to encourage recycling and discourage littering that was adopted in 1983. An updated bottle bill would expand the current deposit system, which is limited to carbonated beverages, to include containers for water, iced tea, juice, and sports drinks.
But despite appearing to have broad support among many communities, the proposal has failed to move forward. Acton, Arlington, Ayer, Berlin, Boxborough, Carlisle, Concord, Dover, Dunstable, Harvard, Lexington, Natick, Newton, Sherborn, Sudbury, Watertown, and Wrentham are among the cities and towns that have passed resolutions supporting the expansion.
“The bill has been stuck in committee all this time and the concern is to get it out and up for a vote,’’ said Launa Zimmaro, a member of the League of Women Voters of Concord-Carlisle. “Updates have been pending for 16 years.’’
The statewide League of Women Voters organization has been joined by the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group, the Massachusetts Recycling Coalition, and the Sierra Club in pressing for the bill’s passage. According to the Sierra Club, about 1 billion “new-age’’ beverages are consumed annually in Massachusetts, and an increasing number are finding their way to landfills.
However, opponents say the 5-cent redemption fee is simply a tax on consumers who do not return the containers, and a burden for businesses that have to process, store and sort the cans and bottles that do get returned.
“The bottle bill’s time has come and gone,’’ said Bill Rennie, vice president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. “It’s a very messy and complicated system to try to maintain.’’
Instead of expanding the bottle bill, Rennie said, the industry association supports repealing the program and focusing efforts to boost curbside recycling as a way to reduce waste going into landfills.
Zimmaro, who lives in Carlisle, said she closely watched the April 29 vote taken at Concord Town Meeting to ban the local sale of plastic water bottles, and she hopes it’s an issue that grabs the attention of state lawmakers. She also said she thinks the ban, pushed by Concord resident Jean Hill, is a bit drastic, and sees the bottle bill as a good middle ground.
“This is an issue that needs to be dealt with and I’d like to see this kept alive with a less extreme reaction, and look at it as a starting point for a deeper discussion,’’ Zimmaro said.
The bottle ban, meanwhile, is still being discussed in Acton and could be targeted for repeal.
State Senator James B. Eldridge, an Acton Democrat who is a vice chairman of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, said he thinks the Concord vote has gotten people talking about ways to deal with the billions of bottles thrown out each year.
“I was impressed with the activism of the Concord Town Meeting,’’ he said. “Since then, I’ve seen a little more spark of hope in people about the bottle bill.’’
But Eldridge doesn’t know whether it means this will finally be the year for the expanded bottle bill. There is a bill in committee and the expansion is also included in Governor Deval Patrick’s proposed budget for next fiscal year. But whether it’s in the final spending plan approved by the Legislature is uncertain. Supporters say that besides increasing recycling and reducing litter, the expansion could raise up to $20 million for the state because unclaimed deposits go to the general fund.
Eldridge said the bill may be the victim of an antitax sentiment, even though it’s a deposit that consumers can get back by returning the cans and bottles.
“I think there’s growing support, but the push for no new taxes may hurt the cause,’’ he said.
Hill, the leader of the water bottle ban in Concord, doesn’t support the expanded bottle bill, saying it doesn’t solve the problem of too many plastic bottles in the waste stream. Besides, she said, the proposal has been sitting in committee for years and nothing’s been done, and that’s why she decided to take action at the local level.
So instead of worrying about the bottle bill, Hill is focused on making sure the ban stands in Concord. Three days after it was approved, a broken Massachusetts Water Resources Authority pipeline that cut off the region’s safe tap water for several days and sent Greater Boston residents scrambling for bottled water, prompted some Concord residents to reconsider the vote. There’s been talk in town of residents collecting the 200 signatures needed to call a Special Town Meeting session to repeal the ban.
Meanwhile, town officials are trying to determine whether the vote was legal and how it can be enforced. The ban was not approved as a bylaw, simply a policy, so there are no details about enforcement and fines.
The Board of Selectmen is waiting to hear whether the state attorney general’s office will grant its request to review the ban for any legal deficiencies.
“I’m hopeful the town will give the Board of Selectmen an opportunity to deal with this and not call a Special Town Meeting,’’ said Selectman Jeffrey Wieand, the board’s chairman.
Wieand said it’s likely Town Meeting at some point will be asked to either approve a bylaw to back up the ban, or vote on a repeal.
As of now, the sales ban is to take effect in January, and Hill said she’s watching and waiting to see what happens.
“At this time, I’m just playing it by ear and flying by the seat of my pants.’’
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2010/05/27/concord_ban_on_plastic_bottles_seen_as_boost_for_bill_expanding_deposits/#
