Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
for one year.
26
Overall, the 85 million tons of municipal solid waste
recycled in the United States in 2007 reduced an amount of greenhouse
gas emissions equivalent to emissions from 35 million passenger cars.
Plastic Bottles
Americans buy an estimated 28 billion plastic water bottles each year,
and the number is growing. Only 24 percent of them are recycled. More
than one-third of plastic soda bottles were recycled in 2007, in part
because of the increasing number of bottle bills being passed in states,
commonly over strong objections by grocery and beverage industry
lobbies. The purchaser of a soda bottle pays a small fee, usually fi ve cents
(ten cents in Michigan), when the product is bought, and gets the money
back when the bottle is returned. As of mid-2010, eleven states have
bottle deposits on soft drink bottles, and six of those states extend the
deposits to water bottles as well. Many other states are considering bottle
bill proposals. According to the Container Recycling Institute, the recy-
cling rate for plastic bottles of carbonated beverages in 2008 was 80
percent in the eleven states with bottle deposit bills compared to 27
percent in the other thirty-nine states. For noncarbonated beverages such
as water, the recycling rate was 35.2 percent in states with bottle deposit
laws and 13.6 percent in the states without such laws. As usual, hitting
people in their wallet has a pronounced effect.
The fi rst bottle bill was passed in Oregon in 1971, but the nickel
deposit it mandated has never been increased and has become the stan-
dard charge nationwide in states that passed similar laws. The 1971
nickel is now worth about a penny, and redemption rates have become
depressed over the years. This has not occurred in Michigan, where the
redemption rate remains at 97 percent. The difference between a nickel
and a dime seems to have great signifi cance to Americans. The amount
of deposit on these bottles should be increased nationwide.
In most states, if the bottle is not redeemed, the mountain of nickel
deposits paid by purchasers remains with the beverage distributing
company to which the deposit was paid. The company is rewarded for
the purchaser's lack of environmental concern with a large percentage
increase in the price that was paid for the soft drink. In New York, these
unredeemed deposits total about $100 million each year. The money
should be recovered by the state and used for environmental purposes,
a proposal that the grocery and drink industries oppose.
Bottle laws do stimulate recycling and reduce litter. But they have a
huge fl aw: they place a deposit on beer and carbonated beverages only,
