Legislative Report 4/19/2021 - Upping the Recycling Game

 Greenup Day is right around the corner - of the calendar, that is – and Vermonters will head out to the roadsides to pick up the refuse of winter. There will be bottles and cans as well as fast food containers, vehicle debris, and plastic bags based on my past experience.  The litter certainly does accumulate around here, but the number of beverage containers on roadsides in states without bottle deposit systems, like Pennsylvania, is considerably higher by my observation when I visit family there.

In 1972, Vermont passed its first bottle deposit bill as a way to clean up litter along our roads. Since then, it’s become a successful statewide recycling program that allows Vermonters to redeem beer bottles and soda cans for a nickel per container. Bottle drives provide a fundraising source for Scout troops and class trips, too. Glass liquor bottles, with the exception of wine, were added to the deposit system in 1990. In 2019 the law was changed to require the unredeemed deposits, about $1.5 million annually, to be returned to the state for deposit in the Clean Water Fund. While bills have been introduced over the last two decades to expand the deposit system, they have been unsuccessful. A step in that direction took place last week, however, with the Vermont House passing H.175 with a 99 to 46 vote. H.175 updates this landmark environmental law by expanding the redeemable list to include plastic water bottles, wine and hard cider bottles, and containers for all carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, except for dairy products, plant-based “milk” products, and non-alcoholic apple cider.

Right now, the bottle bill covers only 46 percent of the beverage containers sold in our state. Plastic water bottles are the second-most littered piece of trash in Vermont. Furthermore, broken and contaminated glass contributes to contamination of recycled paper and cardboard, is difficult to handle and expensive to dispose of, which can lead to dumping. Containers redeemed under the bottle bill are more valuable for recycling because they are cleaner and far more likely to be remade into new containers. By passing H.175, we will increase the number of recycled containers in Vermont by an estimated 375 million per year.

According to a recent poll, 88 percent of Vermonters support the bottle bill and 83 percent support updating it to include more containers. Expanding the bottle bill makes sense because it

• increases recycling rates and reduces litter;
• supports the closed-loop economy by making more bottles back into bottles;
• reduces costs to solid waste management districts by reducing the volume of glass in our recycling bins;
• increases the handling fee for redemption centers to cover the added work associated with sorting these products;
• boosts the economy by creating more jobs than curbside recycling; and
• generates more revenue for the Clean Water Fund.

·     Getting back to Greenup Day, Saturday, May 1, this year.  You can help by joining your neighbors and adopting a section of Charlotte’s roads. Sign up at the Greenup Charlotte web site (https://sites.google.com/view/charlotte-vt-green-up-day/home) and pick up a few green bags to fill.

I welcome your emails (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com) or phone calls (802-233-5238).  

The Word in the House 3/16/2017 - Towards a Better Bottle Bill

Back in 1971 there was a lot of concern about littering Vermont's highways and byways. A major component of the litter was discarded beverage bottles that were tossed from moving cars. Governor Deane C. Davis and the legislature addressed the problem by passing the “Bottle Bill” in 1972 which established a 5 cent refundable deposit on bottles and eventually cans. This system has worked effectively ever since to promote recycling of these items. According to the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG), more than 80% of returnable bottles and cans are redeemed today. However, 45 years later beverage container recycling is still a subject in the legislature.

Here's how the system currently works. The beverage industry manages the deposit system. Consumers pay the retailer a 5 cent deposit which they get back when the container is redeemed. The beverage distributor(s) then pay the redemption location 8.5 cents per container. The deposits for the 15% of containers that are never redeemed are retained by the distributors to the tune of about $2M per year. The distributors also recycle the aluminum, plastic and glass for their value as raw materials. While aluminum and plastic are valuable materials, it costs money to collect, transport and recycle the glass.

There are currently two bills that have been introduced this year dealing with beverage containers, H.67 and H.173. H.67 would extend the current deposit system to water bottles and all other beverage containers except for milk and milk substitutes, and it would require the unclaimed deposits to be remitted to the state to support our solid waste system. Wine and liquor as well as uncarbonated beverages would be included.

On the other hand H.173, which I introduced, takes a different approach. I proposed H.173 primarily for discussion purposes to re-examine our 45 year old bottle recycling strategy. The committee process of the Vermont legislature allows for a pretty detailed examination of proposals with an opportunity to hear from many perspectives. Because Act 148 of 2012 mandates recycling throughout Vermont, H.173 would eliminate the deposit system entirely and place a 5 cent non-refundable fee on all glass beverage containers. My reasoning is fourfold:

1. Since the valuable aluminum and plastic are diverted from our solid waste stream by the deposit system, a significant revenue source for our solid waste districts is eliminated.

2. Glass recycling already imposes a loss on our solid waste districts because the value of the glass is lower than the cost of collecting, transporting and processing it.

3. The extra 3.5 cents that the beverage distributors pay the redemption centers as well as the cost to handle and transport the containers is built into the price of the beverage. This additional cost is somewhat mitigated by the $2M left with the beverage distributors. This complex handling system would be simplified by my bill.

4. The 5 cent fee on glass containers in H.173 would be remitted directly from the retailer to the state's Solid Waste Assistance Fund which supports certain programs of the solid waste districts. This would also eliminate the middleman, the distributors, from the recycling stream.

Both bills are in the House Natural Resources, Fish & Wildlife Committee which will consider their merits based on testimony from solid waste districts, the beverage industry, environmental organizations such as VPIRG, and groups that rely on the deposit system for fundraising. With changing times, the greater acceptance of recycling, and the positive effects of Act 148, I think it is worth revisiting the strategy for recycling beverage containers. I will support either bill or a hybrid that the Committee might approve.

I encourage you to let me know your concerns and opinions. I can be reached by phone (802-233-5238) or by email (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com).