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Container and Packaging
Recycling UPDATE
Summer/Fall 2001 Issue

COLUMBIA - Having survived three repeal referenda since it was enacted in 1977, the nation's only local beverage container deposit ordinance, in Columbia, Missouri, is again under attack.

In March 2001 the city council debated a proposal to repeal the deposit requirement and replace it with a 1-cent non-refundable tax on beverage containers to fund a "Keep America Beautiful" type of educational program. Warning that education alone could never match the bottle bill's 87 percent return rate, Columbians Against Throwaways (CAT) worked to defeat this proposal.

Repeal advocates argued that the city's "blue bag" program for commingled recyclables makes the deposit unnecessary. CAT refuted this by reporting that only 25 percent of eligible households actually use the program. CAT agreed that the law should be changed to provide a per-container handling fee to retailers.

On March 19th, after an hour of public testimony and lengthy statements by council members, the council narrowly rejected the tax proposal.

The council authorized Mayor Darwin Hindman to appoint a citizen task force to study the deposit ordinance and make recommendations to improve it. Hindman told the council and citizens, "The deposit creates an incentive to avoid littering - an incentive to pick up litter without cost to taxpayers." He suggested the task force find ways to address the concerns of retailers and investigate the feasibility of purchasing reverse vending machines.

A lone container deposit opponent launched a petition drive over the summer months to put repeal of the deposit ordinance on the ballot in November. He failed to get enough signatures to get the measure on the ballot, but has vowed to get the signatures for a ballot vote next April.

CAT plans to counter repeal efforts with its ideas for mitigating retailer objections and is distributing a new brochure touting the benefits of the deposit ordinance titled "It's Too Good to Throw Away".

Contributed by Winifred Colwill Co-Chair, CAT Email Winifred at jmcwsc@aol.com for more information.