|
|
|||||||||||
Home / News / Press Releases
/ Testimony
/ Legislation
/ On the Issues
/ Newsletter
/ Resources /
|
|||||||||||
|
|
For Immediate Release: April 15th, 2004 Contact: Contact: Jordan Isenstadt (c) 516.991.3842 (w) 212.490.9535 (f) 212.490.2151 ***PRESS
RELEASE*** State Must Expand Bottle Bill Now To
Offset Costs of Expanded New York City Recycling Program, Says Senator
Krueger Over 70% of New Yorkers Support Expansion of the
Bottle Bill
Albany, NY – State Senator Liz Krueger
(D-Manhattan) today called for the immediate passage of S. 384, a bill
that would revise the landmark New York State Returnable Container Act. “I am thrilled that New York City has
expanded recycling to include glass bottles,” said Senator Krueger. “Now the State must act to pass a Bigger
Better Bottle Bill, which would raise the revenue to cover the costs of
expanded recycling.” On March 29th,
Senator Krueger filed a motion to petition on the bill, which would expand
the recycling program to include non-carbonated beverages and would increase
the deposit to ten cents. A motion
to petition allows a member of the Senate to petition the Senate as a whole
for a vote on legislation that is stalled in committee. The petition lost, with only 20 members
(all Democrats) in support.
“New York's Returnable Container Act has been a resounding
success in the twenty years since its initial passage by the state
legislature in 1982,” said Senator Krueger. “We must continue to strengthen this
important legislation by bringing it forward into the 21st
century.”
Earlier in the legislative session, Senator Krueger
introduced S. 384, legislation designed to reform the New York State Returnable
Container Act of 1982, also known as the “bottle bill,” which imposed a
nickel deposit on beer and soda bottles, and cans. Of course, times have changed since 1982
and Senator Krueger has called for an expansion of the returnable container
universe to include sports drinks, bottled spring water and other
non-carbonated beverages, which presently account for over 20 percent of the
beverage market. The legislation would
also increase the deposit on returnable beverage containers to ten
cents. The bottle bill is widely
considered to be one of the most successful pieces of New York State public
policy ever written. The bill has
saved taxpayers and municipalities more than $300 million in landfill fees
since 1983 and has diverted more than
5.2 million tons from our waste stream over the past 20 years.
In testimony presented at a hearing of the Assembly
Standing Committee on Environmental Conservation last year, Senator
Krueger stated, “Twenty-one years later, a nickel is just not worth
what it used to be. New York’s
redemption rates have fallen to their lowest level due to the declining value
of the nickel. My legislation
would increase the bottle deposit from five cents to ten cents and require
that any unclaimed deposits on beverage containers would be shared by the
state and the deposit initiator. This
increase is necessary to improve the likelihood of consumers returning empty
containers by providing a greater economic incentive for recycling.”
Beyond the expansion of returnable items, there is a
standoff between the beverage industry, which keeps the unclaimed deposit
money under the present statute and reform advocates, who would like to take
the unclaimed deposit money away from the bottlers and funnel it into other
funds. The bottlers argue that they
should keep the unclaimed deposits, which amount to about $84 million per
year, to pay for the recycling program.
Reformers believe the beverage industry should not be making any money
off of unclaimed deposits. Under
Senator Krueger’s proposal, the beverage industry would continue to receive
their five cents from unclaimed deposits and the other half of the dime would
go to municipalities through the Environmental Protection Fund for recycling
programs and other environmental projects.
“An added bonus to my proposal is that more individuals
will choose to recycle their bottles and cans, which will end the downward
trend in recycling over the last five years,” remarked Senator Krueger. “Plus, expanding the bottle bill will
create new jobs in the recycling and retail industries. Hopefully, passage of a new and improved
bottle bill will result in a renewed interest in the environment.”
The Bigger, Better Bottle Bill has enjoyed widespread
support throughout New York State.
Besides Senator Krueger’s proposal there are several others on the
table. This coming weekend, the New
York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), has planned a Bottle Bill Walk,
which will culminate in a rally outside of Governor Pataki’s Manhattan
office. In addition, several New York
State newspapers have pushed for a newly revised bottle bill in their opinion
pages, including editorials from the Daily Gazette of Schenectady and the
Albany Times-Union, which endorsed Senator Krueger’s call for an increase to
a dime deposit.
“The Bottle Bill has been an environmental success story
for New York, but we can make it even better,” stated Senator Krueger.
“It's a win financially for our stressed budget; it puts money
directly into targeted programs at the local level to help clean our
environment; and it decreases the environmental problems we're already facing
in the state.”
-30- |
|||||||||
