Save a Scarce Commodity - Taxpayer Dollars
In 2009, the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) spent 44 million dollars on
"Don't Mess with Texas" activities; and 29% of items collected were beverage containers. The Texas General Land Office conducts
a bi-annual Adopt-a-Beach clean up. In 2011 the effort cleaned 75 miles of Texas beaches. 33,000 bags were filled in the
process. Examining the collection reviewed that beverage containers made up 20% of items counted. Helping Texas get
a grip on the litter problem will help Texans save tax dollars required to deal with the litter problem.
Keeping Current with
Consumer Habits
As America becomes an increasingly "on-the-go" society, a bottle bill will help to capture the containers of beverages
not consumed at home. We are now enjoying beverages in the park, at the beach, in our cars and at the office. With over 20 years of
experience, bottle laws have helped to recycle an average of 75% of all beverage containers. 1
Promotes Recycling and Reduces
Waste
Bottle bills generally result in higher materials recovery rates--- which benefit the environment by reducing litter, and supports
the recycling industry that depends on a constant stream of recyclable materials. Increased recovery rates leads to reduction of our
reliance on oil, and reduces the depletion of natural resources through the remanufacturing of recycled material.
Provides Financial
Incentives for Recycling
Deposits on beverage containers were used for many decades by the beverage industry to ensure the return
of their refillable bottles. Deposits work because they provide a financial incentive to recycle and a disincentive to litter.
Bottle
bills are unique from litter taxes or publicly funded recycling programs in that the money that the buyer pays is returned to them
when they recycle the container. Deposits place the costs of managing post-consumer beverage containers where it really belongs--on
those who manufacture, sell and buy them. Whether they are landfilled, littered or recycled, there is a cost to managing ŽusedŽ beverage
containers which have been passed onto the counties and municipalities and represents a cost to government and taxpayers. The deposit
system shifts those costs to producers and consumers who choose not to redeem their deposits.
Produce High-Quality Recyclable
Materials
Not all recycled materials get made into a new product. Breakage and contamination of materials in collection results in
them being "downcycled" into material that cannot be recycled. Containers collected through a bottle bill generally suffer less breakage
and contamination,--that means more beverage containers can be recycled into new products. 1
A study of glass recycling showed
that only 40% of glass from single-stream systems is recycled into containers and fiberglass, 40% winds up in landfills and 20% are
processed into glass fines and used in low-end applications. In bottle bill systems, color-sorted material results in 98% being recycled
and only 2% marketed into glass fines. 1
Generally plastic material from single-stream MRFs yield about 68%-70%. Bales of PET
from deposit return systems generally have a yield rate of about 85%.
A deposit system along with a curbside program will result
in savings to local governments by reducing collection and processing fees.
Create Jobs
A bottle bill law creates new jobs in
the retail, processing, and recycling industries. Creation of jobs has been shown in every bottle bill state. Michigan gained 4,684
jobs, New York 3,800 jobs, Massachusetts 1,800 and Vermont gained 350 jobs. During 2009 and 2010 New York added 244 additional
redemtion centers (when they expanded their state's bottle bill program to include water bottles). 1
The employment prospects
for Texans looks especially good when you examine the size of our state's population. Consider these statistics:
A)
In 2010 Maine, with a population 1.3 million, had 1,500 workers supporting redemtion centers and haulers.
B)
Up in Alberta, Canada, which has a population of 3.7 million, they have 1,500 workers supported their collecting and processing
efforts in 2010.
C) In 2010, "down under" in the Southern Territory of Australia, with a population of 1.6 million people,
they have over 1,000 people working on the effort. By the way, they initiative means more than $100 million to their territory's
economy.
D) TEXAS HAS A POPULATION OF 25 MILLION PEOPLE.
________________________________________
1) Container
Recycling Institute 2007-2009 Benefits of a Bottle Bill