Assembly Passes 'Bigger, Better Bottle Bill'

Measure would modernize and expand historic recycling law

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Robert Sweeney announced that the Assembly passed legislation today to expand New York's beverage container deposit and recycling programs.

The "Bigger, Better Bottle Bill" (A.8044A), sponsored by Sweeney, would expand the current bottle bill to include a five-cent deposit on non-carbonated beverages such as bottled water, sports drinks, juices and iced tea. It would also turn over unclaimed deposits, which are currently kept by distributors and bottlers, to the state's Environmental Protection Fund.

"The Assembly Majority is committed to protecting our environment. When the original bottle bill was enacted more than two decades ago, there was a small market for bottled water, juice, iced teas and sport drinks. These containers now make up more than 27 percent of beverage sales and nearly two thirds of the containers that litter New York's roadways, neighborhoods, parks and beaches. Recycling these containers conserves energy, natural resources, and landfill space," said Silver (D-Manhattan).

"The current bottle deposit law has been New York's most important and successful litter prevention and recycling program," said Sweeney (D-Suffolk). "When this measure was originally passed in 1982, no one could have envisioned the growth in popular beverages like sports drinks, teas and bottled water. This legislation simply updates the law to include these non-carbonated beverage containers, expanding a proven incentive to help remove them from our waste stream, roadways and communities."

The "Bigger, Better Bottle Bill" will ensure that every unredeemed five-cent deposit is returned to the state and invested in environmental programs such as recycling improvements, parks, pollution prevention and water quality improvements. The bill will also help decrease costs to local governments while encouraging additional recycling. Data from the Container Recycling Institute has led the Assembly to estimate that revenues from the expanded authorization could reach $195 million once the bill is fully implemented.

"Requiring beverage companies to transfer unclaimed deposits to the State Environmental Protection Fund will create a steady revenue stream that will boost recycling and many other environmental initiatives here in New York," Silver noted.

The Assembly's plan would:

• Increase the handling fee paid by deposit initiators to dealers or operators from 2 cents to 3.5 cents to compensate retailers for operational expenses, such as labor costs, space and sanitary conditions;
• Limit redemption requirements for dealers under certain circumstances such as location, size of store and amount of containers accepted per day; and;
• Create new penalties and increase current penalties for violations.

"I urge the Senate to join the Assembly in modernizing this important environmental initiative before the Legislature leaves Albany," concluded Silver.