New York Lawmaker Pushes For Significant Changes To 'Bottle Bill'

If a New York State Assemblyman from Albany has his way, the amount of money you currently get for your bottle and can deposit is going to double and go up to 10 cents per bottle or can.

According to the New York State Department of Conservation, under the current "Returnable Container Act", a.k.a. the Bottle Bill, "a deposit is required on glass, metal and plastic containers that hold less than one gallon or 3.78 liters." Of course, the whole idea is to promote recycling. If you think back to before this bill, cans and bottles were often found littering the landscape. Sadly, it seems that too many people need a monetary incentive in order to not just toss bottles and cans wherever they want.

The New York State Returnable Container Act originally began on July 1, 1983, but has been amended along the way and the most recent change to the bill took place in 2013. Since the bill was enacted, it has been very successful in keeping bottles and cans out of the waste stream according to the New York State Association of Counties, with a bottle and can return rate of over 70% on average since the bill's inception.

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According to news10.com, Assemblyman Kevin A. Cahill of district 103, wants to expand current legislation related to bottle and can returns. Not only does he want the bottle and can redemption amount to increase from 5 cents to 10 cents per item, but he also wants to increase the type of product containers a person can turn in for redemption to include wine and liquor bottles, dairy product containers, ice teas, and sports drinks containers.

If this happens, it will of course be great for the environment and in theory, if the redemption amount on returnable containers goes up to 10 cents, it seems likely that stores will increase the price on those products to make up for the difference. As long as people return those containers to get the payback, it all evens out.

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Source: New York State Lawmaker Pushes For Significant Changes To ‘Bottle Bill’