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Deposits vs Litter Taxes
Deposits stop beverage container litter before it starts
By Pat Franklin
Cigarette butts, polystyrene cups, beer bottles and soda cans are among the items that litter our nation’s roadways and denigrate the natural beauty of our beaches, parks and waterways. Furthermore, surveys show that beverage containers represent a significant portion of roadside, park and beach litter. One approach is to clean up litter after the fact; another is to prevent litter from happening in the first place. Deposit laws have proven effective at preventing beverage container litter, but beverage producers and grocers have mounted a campaign to replace deposit laws wih a “New Jersey-style litter tax” aimed at cleaning up litter—an approach much like mopping up the floor while the sink is overflowing. Money generated by the tax is used to fund recycling programs, litter cleanup efforts, and public relations campaigns.
Deposits vs Litter Taxes
Hundreds of litter surveys conducted over the past 35 years have measured the composition of the litter stream and compared litter abatement programs. Seven government funded studies showed declines in total litter ranging from 30 to 50 percent after implementation of a deposit law.
The Final Report of the Temporary State Commission on Returnable Beverage Containers found that New York's deposit law reduced beverage-container litter by 70 to 80 percent. The 1979 Michigan Department of Transportation found that the deposit law reduced beverage-container litter by 84 percent and total litter by 41 percent.
Beverage producers have hired high-powered lobbyists and consultants to speak at recycling conferences, testify before legislative committees and lobby elected officials. Their message: don’t pass new or expanded deposit laws, repeal existing deposit laws, and replace these programs with a New Jersey-style litter tax
But the litter tax is no match for a deposit law. Last year the New Jersey Clean Communities Council, which is funded by the state’s litter tax, paid Gershman Brickner and Bratton to conduct a study titled A New Jersey Litter Survey: 2004. The study revealed that litter in New Jersey is 35% higher than in other states, and urban street litter is 41% higher than the national average.
Beyond the litter things
Beverage container deposit laws are not only effective in reducing beverage-container litter, they recover beverage cans and bottles at a higher rate than all other recycling programs
combined. According to a 2002 study by Businesses and Environmentalists Allied for Recycling (BEAR) for their Multi-Stakeholder Recovery Project, Understanding Beverage Container Recycling: A Value Chain Assessment, states with container deposit laws recycled an average of 490 beverage containers per capita in 1999, while non-deposit states recycled an average of 191 per capita. The BEAR study further found that the 10 deposit states with 28 percent of the U.S. population recycled 38.2 billion beverage containers (49 percent of the U.S. total) and the 40 non-deposit states with 72 percent of the population recycled 40 billion (51 percent of the total.)
Finally, the study revealed that system costs to recycle beverage containers through a deposit system averaged 1.53 cents per container, while costs for recovering through curbside and drop-off programs averaged 1.25 cents per container. States that rely on small refundable deposits get consistently high recycling rates and substantial reductions in beverage container litter – all at no cost to taxpayers.
Portions of this article appeared previously in an article titled “Litter things cost a lot,” Resource Recycling, July 2005.
New Jersey Litter Tax
The state levies a tax on 15 categories of “litter-generating products” sold in New Jersey. The litter tax (paid by manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers of these products) requires a government bureaucracy .
Revenue from the tax funds litter clean-ups and municipal recycling programs.
The NJ DEP reports the following recycling rates for glass and plastic bottles and aluminum cans in 2001:
- Plastic Containers 20.6%
- Glass Containers 53.2%
- Aluminum Cans 49.5%
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A Typical Deposit Law
Consumers pay a small deposit of 5 or 10 cents on beer and carbonated beverage containers. When they return the empty containers to stores or redemption centers they get their deposit back.
The deposit law is a prime example of producer responsibility.
Today, approximately 70% of the deposit containers sold in states with a nickel deposit are returned for the refund and recycled, and CRI estimates that another 10% or more are recycled through curbside programs. In Michigan, where the deposit is a dime, containers are returned at rates above 90%. |
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