Fact or Fiction?
Opponents' arguments against a Bottle Bill
Need to check a fact?
CLAIM: The bottle bill is a tax on consumers.
FACT: The bottle bill is not a tax since deposits are 100% refundable. Those who do
not redeem their containers make a voluntary choice not to do so, and therefore unclaimed deposits cannot be considered a tax.
FACT: One
way, throwaway, no-deposit, no - return beverage containers are a corporate subsidy, a litter clean-up on our highways, streets and
waterways.
FACT: Because 70% or more of the deposit containers are returned, taxpayers pay less for disposal, less for litter pickup,
and less curbside recycling.
CLAIM: Deposits rob curbside programs of valuable aluminum can revenue.
FACT: Curbside programs
are failing to adequately capture aluminum cans. Despite a tripling in curbside access in the last decade (2711 programs in 1990,
9709 in 2000), the U.S. aluminum can recycling rate went from 65% in 1992 to 49% in 2001. 1 The quantity of cans wasted from 1990-
2000 increased from 554,000 to 691,000 tons a year and the amount of PET beverage bottles landfilled and incinerated rose from 359,000
to 943,000 tons per year. 2
FACT: Curbside programs do not target cans & bottles consumed away from home.
FACT: Deposits reduce
collection costs to municipalities by removing cumbersome, low-value glass and plastic from the waste stream. Plastic bottles are
cumbersome to collect at curbside (low weight-to-volume ratio) 3, mixed-colored glass is heavy and has a low scrap value and is often
difficult to market. 4
CLAIM: Deposit return is inconvenient (consumers prefer home curbside collection).
FACT: Curbside is still
not available to 50% of the American population. 5
FACT: Curbsides donīt address away-from-home consumption.
FACT: Tripling the curbside
access has not stemmed the tide of waste. 6
FACT: People are going back to stores to shop anyway: special trips are rare. 7
CLAIM: Bottle
Bills increase the price of beverage containers.
FACT: Although 10 cents is added to the cost of a bottle or can when you buy the
beverage, it is fully refunded when you return it! If you choose not to return it, the unredeemed deposit is used to fund the administrative
costs, help fund the recycling industry and fund recycling programs through education.
Donald Dowd, V.P. of Coca Cola of New England,
stated "our prices pre-bottle bill and post-bottle bill are virtually the same." 8
CLAIM: Fraud will cause the loss of millions
of dollars.
FACT: Buying a beverage in a non bottle bill state and returning it to a state with a bottle bill, is considered "fraud".
The low-cost method of a different barcode in bottle bill states virtually eliminates fraud.
CLAIM: There must be a better way.
FACT: The most effective recycling programs in the world are comprised of curbside PLUS deposit. Systems that eliminate one or the
other component are ineffective.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) The State
of Garbage in America "BioCycle" December 2001.
2) Container Recycling Institute.
3) Measuring Recycling: A Guide
for State & Local Governments "U.S. Environmental" Protection Agency September 1997.
4) Jenny Gitlitz "Glass Recycling Market
Trends, Contamination Problems Discussed" American Recycler Vol 4 No. 10, October 2001.
5) The State of Garbage in America "BioCycle"
December 2001.
6) The State of Garbage in America "BioCycle" December 2001.
7) Reported by DSM Environmental Services,
Inc.
8) Boston Globe, Nov. 22, 1989.
.
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