Container and Packaging
Recycling UPDATE
Summer/Fall 2001 Issue

SUMMARY: More than 50 bottle bill proposals were introduced in 18 states, the city of Columbia, Missouri and Puerto Rico in 2001. The bills would do one of three things: (1) create a new deposit system; (2) expand a current program to include additional types of beverages; or (3) repeal an existing bottle bill program. CRI is featuring the Hawaii bottle bill in the state update because it could become the first state to adopt a deposit system since 1986.

Expansion proposals with credible backing have been introduced in several states including Iowa, Michigan and New York. Surprisingly, 30 years after the first bottle bill became law in Oregon, opponents in the beverage and food industry still want deposit laws repealed. While sometimes worded to disguise the intent, repeal efforts are being pursued in Massachusetts, Iowa, New York and Columbia, Missouri.