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Container and Packaging
Recycling UPDATE
Summer/Fall 2001 Issue

Letter from the Executive Director

The Container Recycling Institute turned "10" this year and our organization has been tracking and analyzing container recycling for as many years. We've examined government policies and industry practices over the last 40 years. The changes that have taken place in the beverage industry are a reflection of our mobile, affluent, throwaway society. Even with high recycling rates in bottle bill states, there are signs that deposit laws need updating.

In the space of four decades, refillable bottles gave way to throwaway bottles and cans which now number in excess of 170 billion sold each year in the United States. The trend is toward more single-serving, throwaway packaging, with more beverages consumed away from home - and away from residential curbside recycling programs.

Last year, Americans threw away about 100 billion beverage bottles and cans - 355 for every man, woman and child in the nation. Unfortunately, fewer beverage containers were recycled last year than in 1994 and more were landfilled, littered or incinerated.

CRI promotes recycling and reuse policies and practices that reduce beverage container litter and waste, conserve energy and material resources, eliminate pollution and support businesses that replace virgin feedstocks with recycled bottle and cans. One policy that achieves all of these goals is an incentive based policy known as a deposit system or bottle bill.

Container deposits were introduced voluntarily more than 70 years ago by the beverage industry as a means of getting their refillable bottles back for reuse. State governments began adopting mandatory container deposits in the 1970s with Oregon enacting the first deposit law 30 years ago this year.

Now Oregon, Vermont, Maine, Michigan, Iowa, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, California and Columbia, Missouri all have container deposit laws. Bottle bills have been introduced in nearly every state, in more than a dozen cities and counties, and in the U.S. Congress.

As the state of Hawaii stands poised to adopt the first new deposit law in 15 years, CRI sees a resurgence of interest in container deposits as a means of reducing litter and increasing recycling. This year new bottle bills or expansion bills were introduced in 18 states and Puerto Rico.

The challenges are different today than when the original bottle bill was adopted. Many new types of beverages on the market today, such as single-serving bottled water, juices, teas and sports drinks, were not a significant segment of the market in the 1970's and 80's. Plastic bottles are gaining market share, but recycling rates lag far behind the growth in sales.

The can and bottle recycling rates are dropping even in many bottle bill states. The notable exception is Michigan, where the dime deposit appears to be a high enough incentive to achieve return rates of 95 percent and higher. Deposits have not been adjusted to keep pace with inflation. Officials in Oregon note that a nickel in 1971 is equal to 22 cents today.

The need to update current deposit laws is clear. Inflation has eroded the value of deposits in every state but Michigan. New beverages that were not on the market 10, 20 or 30 years ago should be covered.

The sheer number of containers being sold necessitates streamlining current deposit programs to increase efficiency and reduce costs. None of these changes, however, should jeopardize the convenience of current bottle bills. Nor should they reduce the quality of the scrap materials or the high recovery rates.

CRI research shows that wasting 100 billion cans and bottles a year squanders the equivalent of 32 million barrels of oil a year. Doubling the national recycling rate for beverage containers to 80 percent would save energy and resources worth billions of dollars annually.

Beverage and container manufacturers and their trade associations talk about adopting sustainable business practices, but there is a great divide between words and actions. The beverage industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the past 30 years to defeat new bottle bills, repeal existing bottle bills or prevent expansion.

As industry fails to come to grips with the growing waste and declining recycling rates, more legislatures are likely to follow the example of Hawaii.

In coming months CRI will release reports documenting the growing beverage container waste problem, the causes of the problem and means to reduce waste. We encourage your feedback and are seeking partners in developing new initiatives to protect our precious resources for our children's children.

     Pat Franklin