February 12, 2004

Container Recycling Institute
Environmental Advocates of New York
Natural Resources Defense Council
New York Public Interest Research Group

Press Release

New Poll Shows Strong Support for NY's Bottle Bill and Proposed Reforms

(Albany) Advocates for expanding New York's beverage container deposit law (known as the "bottle bill") today released the results of a poll of New York voters' attitudes toward the bottle bill and proposed reforms.

The telephone survey of 800 randomly sampled registered voters in New York State was conducted in January by Public Policy Associates, a national research firm based in Lansing, Michigan. The survey has a margin of error of (+/-) 3.5 %.

The poll was designed to gauge public response to reforms proposed in the "Bigger, Better Bottle Bill," A.3922-A/S.1696-A, sponsored by Assemblyman Thomas P. DiNapoli and Senator Kenneth LaValle.

The poll's key findings included:

• 84% of New York voters support the current bottle-deposit law;
• 70% support expanding the law to include non-carbonated beverages (such as bottled water, juice, sports drinks and iced tea); and,
• 86% support the state taking back the unclaimed deposits from the beverage industry to fund environmental programs.

"Support for these measures is robust across all the measured subgroups," said Jeffrey D. Padden, president of Public Policy Associates. "Women and men, Republicans, Democrats and Independents, young and old, people of all races, ethnic backgrounds, and income levels, from across the state, strongly support the current law and these proposed reforms."

The poll was commissioned by Environmental Advocates of New York (EANY) and developed in conjunction with the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG).

"The strong public response to these reforms exceeded our expectations," said David Higby, EANY's solid waste project director. "New Yorkers understand that the bottle bill benefits our environment and has made our state cleaner."

"New Yorkers have sent a Valentine's message to our state law-makers," said Laura Haight, senior environmental associate with NYPIRG. "New Yorkers love the bottle bill, and they support making it bigger and better."

"Bottle bills have historically enjoyed widespread public support," said Pat Franklin, executive director of CRI and a nationally renowned expert on container deposit laws. "This poll confirms that, what holds true in other states, holds true for New York as well."

"With state and local governments facing huge funding gaps, law-makers would be remiss to overlook the revenue from taking back unclaimed deposits," said Mark Izeman, senior attorney with NRDC. "This poll shows there is overwhelming public support for this reform, which would generate nearly $180 million a year for environmental programs in New York."

Other findings include:

• 78% of those surveyed agree that the bottle bill has made New York cleaner, and 81% agree that curbside recycling is "not enough" and that we need the bottle-deposit program to control litter;
• only 19% of New Yorkers know that the beverage industry keeps the unclaimed deposits when bottles and cans are not returned; 29% think the stores that sell these beverages keep the unclaimed deposits and 23% think the money already goes to the state;
• 62% of New Yorkers believe that we are spending "too little" on protecting the environment, consistent with national polling data;
• nearly half the respondents (48%) said that a candidate's position on the bottle bill reforms would be important to their vote, and of those, most were people who support these reforms;
• When asked to describe the benefits of the bottle bill in their own words, people most frequently mentioned environmental benefits (36%), litter control (24%), and recycling and reducing waste (17%).

More than 350 groups, local governments and businesses have endorsed the "Bigger, Better Bottle Bill," which would expand New York's existing law to include non-carbonated beverages and would require the beverage industry to turn over unclaimed deposits to the State Environmental Protection Fund to support recycling and environmental programs.

According to CRI's estimates, the "Bigger, Better Bottle Bill" would capture up to 2.6 billion additional bottles and cans a year, and the unclaimed deposits would provide more than $179 million a year to fund environmental programs. Advocates are calling on the Assembly, Senate and Governor to adopt these reforms this year.

The full report is available on-line at:
www.eany.org/reports/index.html
www.nypirg.org
www.container-recycling.org
www.publicpolicy.com

Eight states celebrate BIG returns on small deposits

As bottle bills turn 20, 25 and 30, supporters call for updates

WASHINGTON, DC – Environmentalists agree that the beverage container deposit law, commonly known as the bottle bill has been a resounding success. "The law requiring small, refundable deposits on beverage containers is one of the most successful and popular environmental laws ever enacted," said Pat Franklin, executive director of the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), a nonprofit organization that serves as a clearinghouse for information on container recycling and bottle bills.

"The bottle bill was initially adopted to reduce bottle and can litter", said Sam Washington, executive director of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC), the group that led the initiative campaign in 1976. Washington, who is executive director of the 100,000 member MUCC, said "Bottle Bills have been an unparalleled success in that regard, but they have also kept hundreds of billions of beer and soft drink containers out of landfills over the past 30 years, saving taxpayers millions of dollars in trash disposal and curbside recycling costs."

CRI research director, Jenny Gitlitz, contends that the global environmental benefits of recycling these containers are even more compelling than the local impacts of reducing litter and solid waste. "Recycling the 52 billion aluminum cans trashed this year alone would have saved the energy equivalent of 16 million barrels of crude oil, or enough to supply over a million cars with gasoline for a year," Gitlitz said. "Beverage containers are recycled in non-bottle bill states too, but only about 1 out of 4 are recycled, compared to 4 out of 5, on average, in bottle bill states."

According to CRI, eight of the eleven bottle bill states are celebrating special anniversaries this year: Connecticut and Iowa enacted their laws 25 years ago. States celebrating implementation include Delaware, Massachusetts and New York (20 years), Maine and Michigan (25 years), and Vermont (30 years). "There is certainly cause for celebration," said Franklin, "but there also a need to strengthen the existing laws."

Supporters in New York, Michigan, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa say they want to make a good thing better by updating their laws to cover beverages such as bottled water, teas, juice drinks and sports drinks. Pointing to two identical plastic beverage bottles, Betty McLaughlin, Environmental Affairs Director of Connecticut Audubon said, "The only difference between this Pepsi Cola bottle and this Pepsi Aquafina water bottle is 'fizz.' One deserves to be covered by the law as much as the other."

Eight states celebrate BIG returns on small deposits Contact: Pat Franklin 703/276-9899

Bottle bill advocates say the bottle bill works because the nickel deposit paid by consumers is refunded when the can or bottle is returned to a store or a local redemption center. "The bottle bill provides a 5 or 10-cent incentive to recycle," said Frank Procopio, owner of Central City Bottle Redemption Center in Syracuse, New York. According to Procopio, scout troops, churches and synagogues, and a host of other civic groups, use bottle and can drives to raise money for their organizations. "The West Genessee Marching Band averages about $650 a month from the bottle and can drives they hold," he said.

According to CRI research director, Jenny Gitlitz, return rates for deposit containers have declined over the past 10 years, with the average return rate in states with a nickel deposit falling from 85% in the mid 1990's to below 75% today. "It's easy to understand this decline when you consider that a nickel in 1980 is now worth about 2.2 cents." Gitlitz points out that in Michigan, where the deposit is 10 cents, the return rate is above 95%.

Another update advocated by many bottle bill supporters would transfer the "unclaimed deposits" (deposits that are not claimed by the consumer) from the beverage distributors and bottlers to the state. According to Laura Haight, spokesperson for the New York Bigger Better Bottle Bill Coalition, "Over $1 billion dollars in "unclaimed" deposits has ended up in the pockets of bottlers and distributors. "As return rates have dropped, these windfall profits have mushroomed," said Haight. "Those monies belong to the public and should be used to support recycling and other environmental programs," she said. According to CRI, state supreme courts in Michigan and Massachusetts ruled in 1989 that the unclaimed deposits were the rightful property of the state.

Litter surveys conducted by groups in New York and Massachusetts in 2001 and 2002, underscore the need for deposits on non-carbonated beverages. The surveys showed that containers without a deposit were 7-12 times more likely to be littered than deposit containers. Both New York and Massachusetts require deposits on beer and soft drink containers, but not on non-carbonated beverages.

Former State Senator Lois Pines, author of the Massachusetts bottle bill, claims that non-carbonated beverages such as bottled water, teas, fruit and sports drinks would have been included in the law had they existed in substantial quantities at that time. "The refundable deposit provides an incentive to recycle and a disincentive to litter, keeping our recreational areas and roadsides cleaner," she said. "The law should be expanded to include new beverages that weren't on the grocery shelves and in vending machines 20 years ago."

States celebrating special anniversaries this year:

Enactment Anniversary: Connecticut and Iowa (25 years)

Implementation Anniversary: Vermont (30 years), Maine and Michigan (25 years), Delaware, Massachusetts and New York (20 years).

Three other states have bottle bills: California, Oregon and Hawaii.

Environmental, Recycling Leaders Support Senator Jeffords’ Legislation to Double Bottle and Can Recycling

Nation’s largest glass recycling company backs proposal

WASHINGTON – Three dozen environmental groups, recycling organizations and businesses announced support today for legislation sponsored by Senator James Jeffords (I–VT) aimed at doubling the national beverage container recycling rate.

Sen. Jeffords’ bill, the “National Beverage Container Producer Responsibility Act of 2003,” would hold beverage companies responsible for developing a system to achieve an 80 percent recycling rate for their containers. A 10-cent refundable deposit would apply to an estimated 180 billion aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles used as packaging for most kinds of beverages, excluding dairy products.

“I am introducing this bill on the eve of America Recycles Day to create accessible bottle and can recycling options for all Americans,” Senator Jeffords said.

“The ten states with bottle bills are recycling more bottles and cans than the other 40 states combined. My bill would leverage the market incentives created by a refundable deposit to encourage beverage container recycling. One innovation in the legislation is that industry would have the flexibility to devise the most cost-effective means to meet the goal."

"My bill will double the national beverage container recycling rate, save energy, reduce pollution, prevent road side litter and create sustainable jobs," Jeffords said. Original co-sponsors of the bill include Senators John F. Kerry (D-MA), Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT), Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT) and Daniel Akaka (D-HI). All five senators represent states with deposit laws, popularly known as "bottle bills”.

“Recycling is the most popular way that individuals express support for environmental protection,” said Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, senior researcher with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Unfortunately, we are seeing a decline in recycling of many materials--except in states with financial incentives like the refundable deposit on beverage containers.”

Pat Franklin, executive director of the Container Recycling Institute, said: “Deposit laws are the most effective public or private recycling policy adopted in the past 30 years. The ten states that currently require refundable deposits recycle 490 containers per person per year, compared to only 190 per person in non-deposit states.”

Fifteen national environmental and recycling organizations, and a major glass recycling business, publicly endorsed the bill today. Endorsements came from American Littoral Society, Container Recycling Institute, Center for a New American Dream, Co-op America, Friends of the Earth, GrassRoots Recycling Network, Greenpeace USA, International Rivers Network, Mineral Policy Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Scenic America, Sierra Club, Strategic Materials, US Public Interest Research Group.

Tex Corley, president of Strategic Materials, said: "Creating a strong financial incentive for recycling is good for business. Glass and other materials collected through deposit systems, unlike those collected through curbside recycling programs, are of a higher quality, and thus more marketable. That's why I support the legislation sponsored by Senator Jeffords." Strategic Materials, based in Houston, Texas, is the nation’s largest company processing glass for use primarily by the glass container and fiberglass manufacturing industries.

Of the ten states that have implemented deposit laws, Michigan is the only one with a 10-cent deposit. That state also has the highest beverage container recycling rate of any state--95 percent. The forty states without deposit laws recycle those containers at an average rate of approximately 30 percent, according to the Container Recycling Institute.

“The greatest environmental benefits flowing from a national deposit system would be the energy savings from using more recycling materials and reduction of air and water pollution,” said Jim Mays, the national Sierra Club’s Waste Committee Chair.

The Container Recycling Institute estimates that the total energy savings achieved by a national bottle bill would be 53 million barrels of crude oil equivalent (bcoe) annually, or enough to meet the annual residential energy needs of more than 3 million American households a year.

“More than 100 million Americans recycle every day at home or work. America Recycles Day on November 15 is a positive celebration. But the nation’s leading beverage companies, like Coke and Pepsi, keep churning out billions of single-serving, throwaway containers that don’t get recycled. These companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars fighting deposit systems, but haven’t come up with realistic alternatives to achieve comparable results,” Franklin said.

Currently, municipal and state governments absorb the fiscal burden of recycling or disposing of containers. The Jeffords bill would transfer this cost to the producers and consumers of the beverages. “By holding producers and consumers responsible for the 180 billion bottles and cans purchased each year, we can increase recycling at no cost to taxpayers,” David Wood, executive director of the GrassRoots Recycling Network said.

A fact sheet on the bill and additional information can be obtained by calling the contacts listed above or by going to the Internet at: www.bottlebill.org. The complete list of national and statewide supporting organizations and businesses is attached.

States with container deposit laws include: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon and Vermont. Hawaii adopted a new bottle bill last year that goes into effect in 2005.