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Cost of Beverages Soars – So does Beverage Container Waste

A CRI report released in February titled, “Everywhere: The Growth of Non-Carbonated Beverages in the U.S.,” included data showing that American consumers spent more than $270 billion on beverages they consumed in 2005 (excluding milk)--29% more than they spent in 2002. Much of the increase in beverage dollar sales and increased litter and waste are due to the move to smaller sizes, according to CRI. “Beverage producers, bottlers and distributors are profiting from increased sales of small, single-serving plastic bottles, and taxpayers are stuck with the tab for cleaning up mountains of litter and burying billions of bottles in landfills,” said Franklin.

Data in the report showed that Americans purchased 215 billion beverage containers (excluding milk) in 2005: 21 billion more than in 2002. Jenny Gitlitz, CRI research director said, “A disproportionate number of the increase, 19 billion, were non-fizzy drink containers, but growth in the non-carbonated categories was eclipsed by growth in bottled water sales, which nearly doubled over a four-year period.” The report showed that plastic bottled water sales in 2005 hit 29.8 billion, double the number of units sold in 2002, and seven times the units sold in 1997.

The report can be found at at http://www.container-recycling.org/assets/pdfs/reports/2007-waterwater.pdf

State Updates

Connecticut:

The bill to update Connecticut ’s 28-year old container deposit law to include non-carbonated beverages was voted out of the Joint Environment Committee on March 21 by a vote of 22 to 8, with one recusal   SB 1289 now moves on to the Finance Committee.  Because the bill allows schools to become redemption centers to collect deposits as a fund-raising tool, the bill will probably need to go to the Education Committee also. It will then go to the Senate for a floor vote.   A public hearing was held on SB 1289 in Hartford on Wednesday, February 28, where CRI’s executive director, Pat Franklin provided testimony.   Pat was also a featured speaker at a public forum on the bottle bill hosted by the Environment Committee Co-chairs. At the forum Pat presented a new PowerPoint presentation entitled Updating the Bottle Bill [PPT,1.1MB: http://www.bottlebill.org/assets/ppts/2007-3-CT-UpdatingBB.ppt] [HTML: http://www.bottlebill.org/assets/ppts/html/2007-CT-UpdatingBB.htm], that complements CRI’s recent publication, “Water Water Everywhere.” Better Bottle Bill Coalition members and other bottle bill activists in Connecticut are encouraging citizens to contact their state senator and state representative to urge them to support SB 1289.

West Virginia:  

Despite having the maximum number of sponsors in the House, including 5 members of the House Judiciary Committee, House Bill 2773 failed to get on the committee's agenda this year.   According to Linda Frame, (WVCAG), “The highlight of this year's session was a press conference with Governor Joe Manchin, a staunch anti-litter advocate, on Bottle Bill Lobby Day, February 8.  Adopt-A-Highway volunteers from across the state attended and pressed the governor for his support.  Now that the legislative part of the bottle bill campaign is at an end for another year, we will continue to work to get the governor on board.”  Bottle Bill Lead Sponsor, Del. Barbara Fleischauer, (D-Mon) is planning an Earth Day Bottle Bill event in Morgantown on Sunday, April 22 nd where they will hold a press conference, conduct a clean-up and recognize the efforts of Adopt-A-Highway volunteers and other anti-litter activists.  Time and place for the event will be announced in the Bottle Bill Alert.  Favorable bottle bill editorials include the Charleston Gazette, the Beckley Herald-Dispatch and Huntington Dispatch.  More information is available at www.wvbottlebill.org.

Iowa:

After years of fighting an uphill battle with Republican majority in the House and Senate, redemption center owners were hopeful this year would be different with a shift to Democratic control along with a newly elected Democratic governor. Representative Donovan Olson (D), chair of the Environmental Protection Committee appointed a sub-committee headed by Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell (D) to look at HF164 and make recommendations on a final bill to the full committee. After holding several meetings and hearing testimony from all sides an amended bill (HF800) was passed unanimously out of committee by a vote of 20-0, making it eligible for full House debate. This bill includes language to require the distributors to report their sales and redemption numbers to the state to evaluate and determine the redemption rate; establishes a task force to continue the discussions on how to make the law stronger; and identify ways to increase recycling rates and the profit for redemption centers. It also allows redemption centers as a group to negotiate their handling fees with the distributors. Right now it is uncertain that this bill will be debated by the full House. If it is passed it would still need to be reworked by the Senate before the distributors or redemption center owners would consider the bill a success.

New York:

This year marks the 25th anniversary of New York State's original bottle deposit law requiring deposits on carbonated beverages (beer and soda.) In his first year as Governor, Eliot Spitzer introduced the "Bigger Better Bottle Bill" (BBBB) as part of his executive budget. Gov. Spitzer’s bill would update the law to include non-carbonated beverages and require beverage companies to transfer unclaimed bottle deposits to the state's Environmental Protection Fund. 

Despite the senate’s failure to include the Bigger Better Bottle bill in the budget, there continues to be a persistent spirit among supporters. The more than 600 supporting groups, businesses, and local officials continue to press lawmakers to update the states most effective litter prevention and recycling law. Dozens of editorials and op. eds. across the state have endorsed the Bigger Better Bottle Bill including The New York Times (http://www.bottlebill.org/resources/news/2007/NY-3-18-NickelsAndFarms-op.htm), Albany Times Union (http://www.bottlebill.org/resources/news/2007/NY-1-16-ThisCouldBeTheYear-ed.htm), and Newsday (http://www.bottlebill.org/resources/news/2007/NY-3-27-PassABBBB-ed.htm) .

Supporters remain optimistic that by the end of the 2007 legislative session New Yorkers will finally have a bigger better bottle law through the legislative process.

GAO Releases Recycling Report

A report released in December 2006 by the Government Accountability Office titled “Recycling: Additional Efforts Could Increase Municipal Recycling” (GAO-07-37, December 29, 2006) found that although recycling has environmental and economic benefits, the national recycling rate has increased only slightly since 2000.

The report was requested last year by former Senator James Jeffords (I-VT) and several other members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. GAO was asked to identify key practices cities are using to increase recycling, describe what EPA and Commerce are doing to encourage recycling, and identify Federal policy options that could help increase recycling.

Recycling coordinators interviewed for the report in 11 selected cities across the country, identified several key practices they are using to increase recycling in their cities. The three practices cited most frequently were 1) making recycling convenient and easy for residents, 2) offering financial incentives for recycling, and 3) conducting public education and outreach.

GAO also interviewed 13 recycling stakeholders who identified various Federal policy options that they maintain could help municipalities increase their recycling rates. The three Federal policy options cited most frequently were to 1) establish a nationwide campaign to educate the public about recycling, 2) enact a national “bottle bill” in which beverage containers are returned for deposit refund, and 3) require manufacturers to establish systems that consumers can use to recycle their products. The report can be found at www.gao.gov/new.items/d0737.pdf