May 19, 2011
Massachusetts musters support for bottle bill
Over half of Massachusetts towns and cities have passed a resolution calling on state lawmakers to update the Bay State's 1982 bottle bill to include more types of beverage containers. However, proponents of the legislation still have significant barriers to overcome.
According to Ann Dorfman, the interim executive director of MassRecycle, recycling advocates have been calling for an expansion of the bottle bill for the past 12 years to encompass more items than just the soda and beer bottles covered by the original law, only to have their legislative thwarted by opposition from retailers, who worry about new burdens imposed on their businesses.
Since 2009, MassRecycle, a state recycling advocacy organization, has been circulating a letter to municipalities in Massachusetts asking them to pass a resolution that trumpets the environmental benefits of the existing bottle bill, while also requesting that law makers expand it to include many new items, says Dorfman.
Earlier this month, proponents of a bottle bill expansion announced that 182 towns and cities in Massachusetts have passed the resolution, accounting for more than half of the state's 351 municipalities.
"It's turned out to be a really effective tool," says Dorfman of the resolution. "It makes the legislators look, and say, wow, there really is a lot of support for [updating the bottle bill]."
Earlier this year, Governor Deval Patrick proposed an expansion of the bottle bill that he says would bring in $20 million to the state each year. Two lawmakers have also introduced legislation that would expand the container deposit system to include mineral water, flavored and unflavored water, vitamin water, tea, sports drinks and other beverages.
One of those legislators, Alice Wolf, D-Cambridge, argues that passing an updated bottle bill would save between $3.7 and $6.5 million every year in avoided collection, disposal and recycling costs associated with materials that are not currently covered under the existing deposit container legislation.
"The updated bottle bill is a win/win/win for the Commonwealth," says Wolf in a prepared statement.
Dorfman is confident that the legislation would pass if it could just move out of committee and get a floor vote, which she says has been a recurring problem. She also says that the bill enjoys wide support, pointing to a poll by the MassINC Polling Group that found that 77 percent of the public would like to see the bottle bill updated.
"What could we possibly be waiting for?" asks Janet Domenitz, executive director of MASSPIRG, a public interest group that has been lobbying for the bill since it was first filed in 1996, in a prepared statement. "The public supports this bill, Governor Patrick supports this bill, cities and towns support this bill, it all adds up – the time is now for the state Legislature to pass this bill."
However, Dorfman says that grocery stores oppose an expansion of the bottle bill because it currently costs them money to process containers, and the expansion might strain redemption centers. Additionally, she says that while the public supports expanding the bottle bill, it isn't seen as an urgent cause that prompts people to call their lawmakers.
"The legislators aren't hearing a lot of noise from their constituents," she says.
Currently, legislation updating the bottle bill is still awaiting a hearing in the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, and its future is uncertain.
The Massachusetts Food Association opposes the bill. Also, the speaker of the state House of Representatives said the legislation amounted to a tax earlier this year, and he wouldn't consider it.
"It's unfortunate," says Dorfman of the speaker's oppositions. "It would be beneficial if he came out in support of expanding the bottle bill. It's always easier when you have powerful people on your side."
http://resource-recycling.com/node/1696
