New York's bottle bill has been on the books for over forty years, and is sorely outdated according to Peter Baker who owns Can Bottle Return, a redemption center in Hamburg.
"Updates are really needed for the handling fees as well as the types of containers that are considered redeemable," Baker told WBEN Wednesday.
Specifically, he and others in the redemption business, want to see the law expanded to nearly all single use beverages.
"Stuff like sports drinks; Gatorade, Powerade, teas, lemonade, as well as adult beverages with vodkas with fruit juice but no carbonation. We're seeing a big spike in those. The can looks like any other can that is returned. It creates a lot of confusion, They don't get their nickel and we have to dispose of it., which adds to the amount of handling," he said.
Roughly two thirds of the covered beverage containers are redeemed; meaning the containers are returned and the consumer gets a nickel back.
Redemption centers receive handling fees depending on the level of sorting they do for the distributors and manufacturers. But handling fees have not gone up since 2009.
The proposed bottle bill that is before the New York State Legislature would increase the deposit from five cents to ten cents.
Baker told us he favors a phased-in bill over time, with the handling fee addressed first, followed by expanding redeemable containers to nearly all beverages, and finally, increasing the deposit to ten cents.
The full bill is currently in committee. You can read it in its entirety here.
"Updates are needed for handling fees as well as the types of containers that are considered redeemable"
"Updates are needed for handling fees as well as the types of containers that are considered redeemable"
