Why our state needs to pass an updated bottle bill this year.
January 30, 2008
Albany's Lying About Recycling: The way Albany creates recycling numbers is a fraud.
Bigger Bottle Bill: We need to expand the bill and find better ways to recycle.
Debbie Jackson: The Recycling Guru: Jackson's speech to Pine Bush misses the importance of finding bold solutions to the solid waste problems.
No More Recycling For You: As recycling programs lose public interest they decline and end.
Recycling at Peace Picnic: How it's possible to recycle even when outing.
Regional Recycling in Cities: Maybe the transfer station model for disposing of trash is a good alternative to curbside pickup.
Remanufacturing: High value remanufacturing is superior to normal recycling.
Wasting and Recycling: Recycling is good but not a real solution to our solid waste problem.
Why Do I Recycle?: Some thoughts on recycling.
You Recycle: So?: Recycling makes us feel virtuous, but our solid waste problem is much bigger.
Many of us hoped that the Bigger Bottle Bill would finally get passed this year with the 2007-2008 New York State Budget. It failed in the final moments of the debate in Albany, as the politics of an on-time budget replaced the needs for a good budget to get passed by the Assembly and Senate.
The critics of the bill have some good points, but so do the proponents. They include:
The bottle bill forces people to think about recycling more then any other program. There may be a pretty blue bin to put your bottles in on the curbside, or a big container at the transfer station to haul bottles to. But out camping or in your car – will you recycle that bottle, or just toss it out the window or into the campfire? If it’s a deposit bottle, you will think about that little nickel and the importance of recycling.
The bottle bill has a fantastic redemption rate. Nearly 70% of all deposit bottles are returned. Another 10% are recycled in municpal recycling programs. If New York City with it’s lack of quality redemption services is excluded, the combined rate exceeds 90%. Fewer then 1 out of 10 non-deposit bottles are landfilled or incinerated. That’s amazing compared to non- bottle bill bottles that are recycled at about 20% rate.
That also means a lot of litter is avoided. This is particularly critical with beer bottles which are overwhelming made of glass. When glass is broke there is a much greater chance of it causing injury. Toss a glass bottle in a farm field, and there is a good chance that ground up glass will get in the hay bailage or silage. When a cow or horse eats that silage, they will likely die of an infection known as a hardware failure. Toss it on the road, and you to flatten a car tire and likely cause a serious accident.
With the legislature back in session for the second year of their term, and a new 2008-2009 budget being created and approve, lets hope they consider passing a version of the expanded bottle bills. It will save lives, expand recycling, and reduce litter. It will be good for all New Yorkers and have only a very modest impact on retailers who sell bottles with deposits.
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