Another legislative session. Another bottle bill debate. Another dead end.
Forty years after Iowa adopted a nickel deposit on carbonated beverage containers that is refunded when the cans and bottle are returned to retailers, grocers don’t like it, environmental groups love it and the debate whether to expand it or kill it continues at the Capitol.
For this year, however, the debate is over.
“House File 575 is going nowhere,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Guy Vander Linden, R-Oskaloosa, said at the beginning of a hearing on the bill that was approved by the Environmental Protection Committee last year. “We’re convinced others have better ideas. We’re here to listen to better ideas.”
Most of the ideas presented in the 45-minute hearing sounded a lot like those offered in the past.
Brad Epperly, representing the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, called for repeal of the nickel deposit in favor of a broader waste recycling effort tied to curbside recycling. Bottle and can redemption rates have fallen from more than 86 percent to 71 percent.
“They’re not in our ditches. They’re not in our garbage cans,” he said. “They’re in our recycling bins” because consumers would rather do that than take them back to the store.
He pointed out that 83 percent of Iowa communities have curbside recycling available.
The proposal from the grocers and Iowa Beverage Association not only would eliminate the nickel deposit, but expand curbside recycling, remove container redemption at grocery stores, create a beverage industry-funded recycling effort and establish incentives for landfill diversion.
Legislation proposed by grocers and the Iowa Beverage Association called for a comprehensive recycling solution that addresses paper, cardboard, glass and plastic.
The market for single-stream recycling is collapsing because China no longer accepts that material. Barry’s business is being offered a “negative $32” to deliver recyclable waste to mills that re-use it.
“Repeal of the bottle bill is a disaster waiting to happen,” Barry said.
Matt McKinney, speaking for the Iowa Recycling Association, warned that the proposal by the grocers and bottlers would shift container recycling from the private sector to the public sector, where it would lead to bigger government and higher taxes.
Forty years after Iowa adopted a nickel deposit on carbonated beverage containers that is refunded when the cans and bottle are returned to retailers, grocers don’t like it, environmental groups love it and the debate whether to expand it or kill it continues at the Capitol.
For this year, however, the debate is over.
“House File 575 is going nowhere,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Guy Vander Linden, R-Oskaloosa, said at the beginning of a hearing on the bill that was approved by the Environmental Protection Committee last year. “We’re convinced others have better ideas. We’re here to listen to better ideas.”
Most of the ideas presented in the 45-minute hearing sounded a lot like those offered in the past.
Brad Epperly, representing the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, called for repeal of the nickel deposit in favor of a broader waste recycling effort tied to curbside recycling. Bottle and can redemption rates have fallen from more than 86 percent to 71 percent.
“They’re not in our ditches. They’re not in our garbage cans,” he said. “They’re in our recycling bins” because consumers would rather do that than take them back to the store.
He pointed out that 83 percent of Iowa communities have curbside recycling available.
The proposal from the grocers and Iowa Beverage Association not only would eliminate the nickel deposit, but expand curbside recycling, remove container redemption at grocery stores, create a beverage industry-funded recycling effort and establish incentives for landfill diversion.
Legislation proposed by grocers and the Iowa Beverage Association called for a comprehensive recycling solution that addresses paper, cardboard, glass and plastic.
“Single-stream seems to be the silver bullet we’re all looking for,” countered Mick Barry, president of Mid America Recycling, “but right now that’s a lead bullet.”
The market for single-stream recycling is collapsing because China no longer accepts that material. Barry’s business is being offered a “negative $32” to deliver recyclable waste to mills that re-use it.
“Repeal of the bottle bill is a disaster waiting to happen,” Barry said.
Matt McKinney, speaking for the Iowa Recycling Association, warned that the proposal by the grocers and bottlers would shift container recycling from the private sector to the public sector, where it would lead to bigger government and higher taxes.
To read the full story, visit http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/once-again-bottle-bill-debated-and-deferred/article_2a601045-1f7b-5984-8a1b-b11561a964a5.html.