Testimony submitted to the Joint Committee on Telecommunications and Utilities

In Support of H. 3515 and S. 1480

An Act to Improve Recycling Rates in the Commonwealth

October 7, 2009

By Lynn Reale Wolbarst

The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts (LWVMA) urges that you support H. 3515 and S. 1480, bills introduced by Representative Alice Wolf and Senator Cynthia Stone Creem, updating the original “Bottle Bill” by adding several new beverage categories to the container-deposits system. These updated beverages (like bottled water, fruit juice, iced tea and sports drinks) did not exist in ready-to-drink containers when the original law was passed, but they now represent one third of the 3.5 billion beverage containers sold annually in Massachusetts.  

The LWVMA supports the update of this bill because it works in many proven ways to benefit the environment and the Commonwealth by giving a recycling incentive to the consumer in the form of a nickel deposit:

1.      Deposits work to reduce litter.  In 1982, when the original Bottle Bill was newly enacted, beer and “soda” cans and bottles littered streets and parks and bottled water was sold primarily in multi-gallon containers perched atop office water coolers. Times have changed and so has the litter. Today, any tennis court, playing field or roadside in Massachusetts has more non-deposit containers like sports drinks and plastic water bottles than soda or beer can litter. That’s because in states like Massachusetts that have deposit systems, litter for those containers goes down by 69-84%, while all litter is reduced by 30-65%¹.  Aside from the aesthetic and environmental benefits, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection estimates expanding the Bottle Bill will save municipalities $500,000 annually in avoided litter-collection costs².

2.      Deposits work to increase recycling.  Deposit containers in the Commonwealth are still showing a healthy 69% rate of return after 27 years.  Updating the bottle bill will mean an estimated 18,000 tons of new containers annually will be redeemed for nickel deposits rather than be thrown in the trash, saving landfill space, pollution from incineration, and transportation costs.  Container deposits provide the incentive and opportunity to recycle for anyone who does not have access to curbside programs or those that consume beverages at school, at work, at sporting events, or anywhere that recycling is not available.  Containers that have deposits are recycled at more than double the rate of non-deposit containers, showing that the nickel redemption is a proven way to increase recycling.    

3.      This bill will save municipalities money.  Recycling these containers will save between $3.8 to $6.5 million annually in trash collection and disposal costs when consumers redeem their deposits rather than trash the newly-added beverage containers in this bill.  These figures are the net savings, even after subtracting the revenue that communities now receive from the sale of recyclable container materials².

4.      This bill will provide increased revenue for the Commonwealth.  An estimated $15-$20 million will be added annually to the unredeemed Deposit Fund.  The LWVMA supports the provision in H. 3515 and S. 1480 that has these unclaimed deposits go into the Clean Environment Fund and the use of these funds as designated in this legislation “solely for programs and projects in the management of solid waste and for environmental protection.” 

5.      There is strong support for H. 3515 and S. 1480 at the local level.  Local Leagues in Massachusetts, with members in approximately 150 cities and towns, strongly support an expanded Bottle Bill as part of a comprehensive system to reduce trash and litter, to increase recycling rates, to provide local jobs at redemption centers, and to save municipalities energy and money spent on collection and disposal fees.  Massachusetts consumers quickly adapted to and embraced the original Bottle Bill, and by all indications, are looking forward to an update like H. 3515 and H. 1480, which reflect the beverages that they are buying today.

6.      An expanded container deposit system has been successfully implemented in other states.  In Maine, Connecticut, New York, California, and Hawaii updated deposit systems are already in effect.  Distributors and retailers of bottled water are already managing the process of redeeming these additional containers and will be able to manage it in Massachusetts as well.  For example, an increased processing fee, like that proposed in H. 3515 and H. 1480, plus the increase in recyclable materials has had several positive effects on the container redemption process in Maine:  as an incentive for opening more redemption centers that create local jobs, the development of new technologies and new redemption methods that make the process easier and more efficient for retailers, distributors, and consumers, and new technologies that reduce container fraud with better tracking methods for returns.

The current Bottle Bill has been a legislative success story for 27 years - increasing recycling rates, decreasing litter and pollution, generating funds for the Commonwealth, and saving money for municipalities.  H.3515 would exponentially increase these benefits by updating the law to logically include those beverage containers that came into use after 1983.

The LWVMA strongly supports this legislation and asks that you pass this bill out of committee with a positive vote and work to see that it is passed into law this session.  

Thank you for your time and consideration.

^1.      The Container Recycling Institute

^2.        Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, 2009 “Analysis of the Impact of an Expanded Bottle Bill on Municipal Refuse and Recycling Costs and Revenue

CLYNK Redemption System Highlights

• CLYNK is a patented system that is now offered in 24 Hannaford locations in Maine, nearly 40 retail locations will have the CLYNK program in 2010.

• A proven business model that has processed well over 100,000,000 bottles and cans for Maine customers.

• A cleaner, more efficient system for consumers that allows them to commingle containers in their bar coded bag; bags are simply dropped off at the grocery store and processed overnight at the CLYNK facility. The bottle redemption value is electronically added to a secure customer account.

• Funds accumulate in the customer account, and are withdrawn by customers at the grocery store whenever they choose.

• Grocers benefit because there are no machines to break down, the CLYNK space is clean and the redemption process is far more convenient.

• CLYNK builds retail traffic by providing a convenient customer service.

• Distributors benefit because CLYNK picks up all containers and bales material in its centralized facility. Baled material leaves the CLYNK facility in full truck loads, reducing handling and transportation costs.

• With the CLYNK system, if new products, like water and juice are added to the bottle bill, grocers do no have to add equipment or allocate additional retail space. Consumers simply place the new products into their CLYNK bag.

For further information contact:

Clayton Kyle
CEO
CLYNK
167 Rumery St
South Portland, ME 04106

(207) 553-2025 ext. 103
(207) 553-2027 fax
(207 671-0678 cell
ckyle@clynk.com