By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-932637.mp3
Albany, NY – October 31st marked the one-year anniversary of when the bigger, better "Bottle Bill" took full effect. Capital District Bureau Chief looks at the law's impact.
In its first year of implementation, New York's expanded beverage container deposit law, aka the "Bottle Bill", has resulted in the state collecting more than $120 million in unclaimed deposits while giving plastic recycling rates a big boost nationally.
The expansion applied the same 5-cent-per-bottle deposit on water that consumers already paid on beverages such as beer and carbonated soft drinks. The law impacted beverage distributors, mandating they return 80 percent of unclaimed nickel deposits to the state. Previously, distributors were allowed to keep all unclaimed deposits which topped $90 million in recent years. When he first got word of the coming new regulations, Montgomery County distributor Chris Bartyzle modified his business plan, because he couldn't justify installing new equipment to process returned water bottles. Bartyzle continues to distribute beer - and remains opposed to the Bottle law. But NYPIRG's Laura Haight praises the bottle bill's advantages, noting that water bottle redemptions are increasing. Haight and other advocates believe more consumers will head to recycling centers with their empties in the year to come.