June 7, 2004
Exorbitant bar tab: California attacks glass recycling deficiency
Jim Johnson
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. -- California bars and restaurants are losing out on millions of dollars every year and unnecessarily spending millions more.
The culprit? Glass bottles.
Some 2.7 billion glass bottles of beer were sold in California last year to go along with another 700 million other beverages also served in glass.
But only about half of those containers were returned for recycling -- leaving about $70 million in unclaimed bottle bill deposits on the table.
With about 1.6 billion of 3.4 billion glass bottles still being thrown away, the state Department of Conservation is launching a new campaign to try to raise awareness.
Restaurants and bars serve many of the glass bottles, and businesses can save millions in waste disposal fees if they only would put the containers in the recycling bin instead of the garbage can.
"Recycling glass bottles is a great opportunity for California´s bars and restaurants. Not only is it a positive reflection on companies to take an active role in helping the environment, but it can also help with the bottom line, add to employee benefits or create more jobs," said Darryl Young, director of the conservation department.
His department is working with the California Restaurant Association on an educational campaign to help bars and restaurants establish recycling programs.
Recycling glass can have a large impact on the environment. A glass container will last a million years in a landfill, according to the conservation department´s Web site. Recycling all of the approximately 1.6 billion bottles now being thrown away in California each year will save enough energy to run 8,500 homes for an entire year. That´s also the equivalent of 10 million gallons of gasoline.
For calendar year 2002, the state sold 3.4 billion glass containers, and businesses and consumers returned about 1.8 billion for a 52 percent recycling rate. That´s down from 54 percent in both 2000 and 2001, the state said. Recycling rates for 2003 have not been released.
Recycling glass containers also means more money these days, compared to last year. A new state law, which went into effect at the first of the year, raised the refund value of containers to 4 cents on those holding less than 24 ounces and 8 cents for those holding at least 24 ounces. Those figures increased from 2.5 cents and 5 cents, respectively.
Glass bottles containing wine and distilled spirits are exempt from the bottle deposit program.
The current glass container campaign follows a similar effort last year to promote the recycling of about 1 billion empty water bottles that are thrown away in California each year as well.
Pat Franklin, as executive director of the Container Recycling Institute in Arlington, Va., is a big proponent of container deposits.
She expects the increase in the container deposit structure will boost California´s recycling rate.
States with 5-cent deposits enjoy recycling rates of around 70 percent, Franklin said. And Michigan, with a 10-cent deposit, has a 95 percent recycling rate, she said.
"It makes a difference. There´s a direct relationship between the value of the container and the recycling rate, and as the value goes up, the rate goes up," she said.
"The combination of reducing their trash pickup costs and getting 4 cents a bottle, I would think that would provide an incentive to the bars and the restaurants to recycle them instead of trashing them," she said. "I would certainly think that it would help to bring the rates up somewhat," Franklin said. "There are some incentives there."
Glass container recycling rates are falling nationally, Franklin said, and California´s recycling rate of 52 percent is quite good compared to the national average. "I guess the bottom line is that California´s recycling rate for beer bottles -- because that´s essentially what it is -- at a rate of 52 percent is probably about twice the national rate," Franklin said.
Still, California has seen a steady decline in glass container recycling rates since hitting a peak of 75 percent in 1993, said spokesman Mark Oldfield in the conservation department.
"We´re looking at where is it being lost?" he said. About 40 percent of all glass containers covered by the deposit program are sold on premises such as bars, restaurants, sporting events and special activities, Oldfield said. The other 60 percent is sold to individuals and not consumed at particular gathering spots.
"What we´re really thinking is go where the glass is," he said. "The hurdle is to help bars and restaurants to create a glass recycling program that makes sense for them."
For some, that will involve environmental matters, but for others, any program will boil down to economics, Oldfield said. Plans are to work with the establishments one-on-one to tailor recycling programs to meet their needs.
The state eventually plans to establish a numerical goal to improve glass container recycling rates, but has yet to do so.
"We´re going to look at that in the next couple of weeks. Right now, we wanted to identify the problem," Oldfield said.
The conservation department has a Web-based calculator at www.bottlesandcans.com to help businesses see how much they could earn by recycling. The site also estimates the associated cost reduction for waste disposal.
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