Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE

Volume XI No. 1 Summer/Fall 2001

Nation’s First Bottle Hawaii Poised to Adopt Bottle Bill Bill Turns 30 By LANCE KING HONOLULU — Moving with re- PORTLAND — Oregon became markable speed, the Hawaiian House KAUAI the first state in the nation to require a and Senate took less than 3 months to MOLOKAI OAHU refundable deposit on beverage con- approve a bill in the 2001 legislative MAUI tainers, when Republican Governor session requiring a refundable deposit Tom McCall signed the Beverage Con- on a wide range of beverages. Changes tainer Act, the so-called bottle bill, into made in the senate mean that differ- law on July 2, 1971. Oregon adopted a ences must be ironed out in a confer- HAWAII number of landmark environmental ence committee before a vote on final laws in the 1960s and 1970s, creating a passage can take place. framework for environmental steward- Only about 1 in 5 beverage con- late January 2001. Morita chairs the ship and placing the state on the lead- tainers get recycled now, out of an esti- House Energy and Environmental Pro- ing edge of a new movement. mated 880 million bottles and cans sold tection Committee. In an interview Thirty years after passing the bottle last year. Unsightly litter is seen as a with CRI, Morita said she introduced bill, Oregon has one of the highest bev- real threat to Hawaii’s image as a pris- the bill at the request of local solid erage container recycling rates in the tine vacation destination, since tourism waste officials and elementary school nation. According to the Department is the state’s leading industry. Com- students at the Kualapuu School. of Environmental Quality (DEQ), an bined with rapidly diminishing landfill The Morita bill went through a estimated 87 percent of the carbonated space in this island state, coping with maze of six committees and floor votes soft drink and beer containers sold in beverage container waste became an in both houses of the Legislature before the state in 1998 were recycled. While immediate priority in 2001. arriving in conference committee in the rate may be declining slightly, it is Another key factor, according to April 2001. Opponents of the bottle bill still among the highest in the nation – knowledgeable sources on all sides of in the food and beverage industry asked second only to Michigan. the issue, is frustration with broken for and were granted time to develop an The bottle bill remains a popular promises over a period of years by the alternative, and are funding a study by and effective law, but new challenges food and beverage industry, to address Cascadia Consulting of Seattle. reveal problems that may require action the problem and increase recycling. Rep. Morita said legislators are by the Legislature. A series of recent State and local officials took the expecting a progress report in Septem- articles and editorials praise the law, lead in developing the deposit legisla- (Continued on page 8) while pointing out chinks in the system. tion tailored to Hawaii’s When CRI contacted the Oregon needs, using what they de- DEQ, solid waste analyst Peter scribe as a ‘collaborative ap- Inside An Editorial: The Greatest Generation Spendelow pointed out both the proach’. Elements of several Pg 3 Aluminum Can Waste Increases strengths and weaknesses of the current different deposit systems were law. “Recycling rates appear to be combined in a unique new Pg 4 BEAR Chases 80% Recycling Goal dropping,” Spendelow said. “The proposal. value of a nickel deposit is not worth Representative Hermina Pg 6-12 State Update (Continued on page 12) M. Morita introduced the bot- tle bill, House Bill 1256, in Pg 14 Coke, Pepsi Shareholder Action

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE (ISSN 1070-8050) published by the Container Recycling Institute 1911 Ft Myer Dr • Ste 702, Arlington, VA 22209 • Tel: 703.276.9800 Fax: 703.276.9587 E-mail: [email protected] • www.Container-Recycling.org • www.BottleBill.org • © 2001 Editor: Pat Franklin • Associate Editor: Lance M. King • Layout and Graphics: David Markert Contributors to this issue: Kyle Paulson, Jenny Gitlitz

Letter from the ago this year. high recovery rates. Now Oregon, Vermont, Maine, CRI research shows that wasting Executive Michigan, Iowa, Connecticut, Dela- 100 billion cans and bottles a year Director ware, Massachusetts, New York, squanders the equivalent of 32 million California and Columbia, Missouri all barrels of oil a year. Doubling the have container deposit laws. Bottle national recycling rate for beverage bills have been introduced in nearly containers to 80 percent would save every state, in more than a dozen cit- energy and resources worth billions of The Container Recycling Institute ies and counties, and in the U.S. Con- dollars annually. turned "10" this year and our organiza- gress. Beverage and container manufac- tion has been tracking and analyzing As the state of Hawaii stands turers and their trade associations talk container recycling for as many years. poised to adopt the first new deposit about adopting sustainable business We’ve examined government policies law in 15 years, CRI sees a resur- practices, but there is a great divide be- and industry practices over the last 40 gence of interest in container deposits tween words and actions. The bever- years. The changes that have taken as a means of reducing litter and in- age industry has spent hundreds of mil- place in the beverage industry are a re- creasing recycling. This year new lions of dollars in the past 30 years to flection of our mobile, affluent, throw- bottle bills or expansion bills were defeat new bottle bills, repeal existing away society. Even with high recy- introduced in 18 states and Puerto bottle bills or prevent expansion. cling rates in bottle bill states, there are Rico. As industry fails to come to grips signs that deposit laws need updating. The challenges are different to- with the growing waste and declining In the space of four decades, refil- day than when the original bottle bill recycling rates, more legislatures are lable bottles gave way to throwaway was adopted. Many new types of likely to follow the example of Hawaii. bottles and cans which now number in beverages on the market today, such In coming months CRI will release excess of 170 billion sold each year in as single-serving bottled water, juices, reports documenting the growing bev- the United States. The trend is toward teas and sports drinks, were not a sig- erage container waste problem, the more single-serving, throwaway pack- nificant segment of the market in the causes of the problem and means to aging, with more beverages consumed 1970’s and 80’s. Plastic bottles are reduce waste. We encourage your away from home - and away from resi- gaining market share, but recycling feedback and are seeking partners in dential curbside recycling programs. rates lag far behind the growth in developing new initiatives to protect Last year, Americans threw away sales. our precious resources for our chil- about 100 billion beverage bottles and The can and bottle recycling rates dren's children. cans — 355 for every man, woman and are dropping even in many bottle bill child in the nation. Unfortunately, states. The notable exception is fewer beverage containers were recy- Michigan, where the dime deposit cled last year than in 1994 and more appears to be a high enough incentive Pat Franklin were landfilled, littered or incinerated. to achieve return rates of 95 percent CRI promotes recycling and reuse and higher. Deposits have not been policies and practices that reduce bev- adjusted to keep pace with inflation. Container Recycling Institute erage container litter and waste, con- Officials in Oregon note that a nickel Board of Directors in 1971 is equal to 22 cents today. serve energy and material resources, eliminate pollution and support busi- The need to update current de- • Peter Winch, President nesses that replace virgin feedstocks posit laws is clear. Inflation has with recycled bottle and cans. One pol- eroded the value of deposits in every • Carol Waite, Vice President icy that achieves all of these goals is an state but Michigan. New beverages • Roger Diedrich, Secretary incentive based policy known as a de- that were not on the market 10, 20 or • Barbara Fulton, Treasurer posit system or bottle bill. 30 years ago should be covered. • Brenda Platt Container deposits were The sheer number of containers introduced voluntarily more than 70 being sold necessitates streamlining CRI is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) years ago by the beverage industry as a current deposit programs to increase organization dedicated to reducing means of getting their refillable bottles efficiency and reduce costs. None of container and packaging waste, back for reuse. State governments these changes, however, should jeop- thereby reducing pollution and began adopting mandatory container ardize the convenience of current bot- energy consumption, conserving deposits in the 1970s with Oregon tle bills. Nor should they reduce the resources and supporting enacting the first deposit law 30 years quality of the scrap materials or the sustainable communities.

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 2 Summer/Fall 2001 NEWS ANALYSIS

Aluminum – Can Waste Squanders Energy Recycling rate hits 12-year low

WASHINGTON, DC – Aluminum grams nationwide, aluminum recycling tive Director Pat Franklin said. “Yet, cans have long been the most recycled is actually decreasing. CRI’s research we have found that few people are form of beverage packaging in the shows that in 1990, with only 2,711 really aware of the growing rate of alu- United States, due to the relatively high curbside recycling programs serving 15 minum can waste and the serious envi- scrap value and container deposits re- percent of the population, Americans ronmental consequences.” quired in nine states. So declining re- recycled 926,000 tons of aluminum This fall, CRI will release an cycling rates for these cans in recent cans. In 2000, with more than 9,200 analysis of aluminum can recycling years are particularly troubling, be- curbside programs serving about 50 with a special focus on the energy and cause of the energy squandered, the percent of the population, 828,000 tons environmental impacts of wasting alu- pollution generated, and the habitats of aluminum cans were recycled, which minum. “Ironically, the increase in destroyed as a result of mining raw ma- is 98,000 fewer tons recycled than a aluminum can waste comes at a time terials to make replacement cans. decade ago. when parts of our nation face skyrock- Analysis by the Container Recy- “When one takes into account the eting electricity costs,” Gitlitz said. cling Institute shows that aluminum environmental and energy impacts of “It’s especially a problem in the Pacific beverage can recycling hit a 12-year extracting raw materials to replace Northwest, where vast amounts of hy- low in 2000 of 54.5 percent, when in- wasted cans, the aluminum can is ar- droelectricity are used to produce ap- dustry trade association data is adjusted guably the most environmentally de- proximately 40 percent of the nation’s to exclude imported scrap cans. Mis- structive form of consumer product primary aluminum.” leading reports from trade associations packaging on the market,” CRI Execu- have masked the extent of the problem. "Even more alarming than the declining recycling rate is the fact that Growth of Aluminum Beverage Can Wasting Americans waste more aluminum cans today than they did ten years ago," said 50 CRI Senior Research Associate 1988 Jennifer Gitlitz. 40 35.4 “Nearly half of the 100 billion alu- 2000 1980 minum beverage cans sold in the 1996 45.8 24.8 United States last year were thrown 30 42.4 away rather than recycled,” Gitlitz said. Approximately 691,000 tons of 20 1972 aluminum cans were landfilled, inciner- 6.3 Billions of cans ated or littered in the U.S. last year, 10 which is 137,000 tons more than was wasted in 1990. “The energy required to replace 0 these cans with new cans made from 1972 1974 1976 virgin materials could supply the elec- 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992

tricity needs of over 2.5 million Ameri- 1994 1996 1998 can households for a year,” Gitlitz said. 2000 The environmental impacts are Source: Aluminum Association, Container Recycling Institute, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce much greater from using virgin re- sources, particularly in terms of water quality, wildlife habitat destruction in Coming Soon... the United States, Canada and other nations, and the production of air pollu- Aluminum Can Waste: tion emissions which contribute to global warming. • Squandering energy, Despite tremendous growth in pub- • Polluting the environment, lic access to curbside recycling pro- • Agenda for action

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 3 Summer/Fall 2001 NEWS ANALYSIS

BEAR Pursues Bottle and Can Waste, Setting an 80 Percent Recycling Goal By LANCE KING ATLANTA — Imagine a new 2000, in a groundbreaking dialogue to increase beverage container recy- creature quietly hunting for ways to facilitated by Global Green USA. cling, with plastics being the highest increase bottle and can recycling in the "Increased recycling is critical to priority initially. News about BEAR United States, with the goal of achiev- our company’s growth," said Clint leaked periodically, first to trade publi- ing an 80 percent recycling rate. Imag- Hubbard, Chief Administrative Officer cations like Plastics News and then to ine businesses and environmentalists of Beaulieu of America, voicing a com- mainstream media like the Atlanta sitting down together plotting strategy. mon sentiment in the plastics recycling Journal Constitution and Associated In a unique new alliance, known as industry. Press. BEAR, that is precisely what is hap- Along the way, many more leaders Even before BEAR formally an- pening. in the business and environmental com- nounced the MSRP project, Coca-Cola Established last year, Businesses munity were brought to the table before Chairman and CEO Doug Daft told and Environmentalists Allied for Recy- BEAR was formally established. Pierre shareholders at the annual meeting in cling (BEAR) is searching for ways to Ferrari, a former senior marketing ex- April 2001 that his company would halt the proliferation of beverage con- ecutive at Coca-Cola, joined the discus- work with the new alliance. tainer waste. A project of Global sions at an early stage. Ferrari has In June 2001, BEAR formally an- Green USA, the American affiliate of served on Ben & Jerry’s Board of Di- nounced the leadership of the alliance Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s Green Cross rectors and contributed to resolving and formation of the MSRP. BEAR is International, BEAR is attempting to environmental concerns over Home led by an executive committee with break through the wall of suspicion that Depot sales of wood from old growth representatives of Beaulieu, TOMRA so often leads to stalemate in the waste forests. North America, the GrassRoots Recy- and recycling arena. Although new to recycling, both cling Network, Global Green USA and Advocacy groups like the Con- the business and environmental leaders Pierre Ferrari as chair. tainer Recycling Institute and the asked Ferrari to become chairman of The Container Recycling Institute Grassroots Recycling Network want to BEAR. He advocated reaching out qui- participated in the dialogue leading to eliminate waste by increasing container etly to old adversaries to start a new formation of BEAR, serves on the dialogue and pressed the group to con- BEAR Steering Committee and on the duct a ‘value chain analysis’, examin- MSRP. ing costs and benefits of various recy- “We see real value in sitting down cling strategies. with a wide range of interested parties Months of private discussions led to seek solutions to the growing bever- to setting a goal of roughly doubling age container waste problem,” said CRI the national recycling rate to 80 per- Executive Director Pat Franklin. cent, without setting a particular dead- The project’s diverse participants line. In September 2000, the BEAR assembled on June 28 and 29 in Atlanta Executive Committee held its first to formally begin discussions. BEAR’s meeting. With financial support pro- members include Beaulieu of America, vided by a grant from the Turner Foun- Tomra North America, EvCo Research, Businesses & dation and matching funds from busi- LLC, the Natural Resources Defense Environmentalists nesses, the alliance began working on Council, the Grassroots Recycling Net- outreach to key stakeholders. work and the Container Recycling In- Allied for Recycling “Taking a close look at the value stitute. In addition to BEAR’s mem- chain to see the cost and benefits of bers, partners in the MSRP include: various approaches to recycling seemed Waste Management, Inc., Southeastern recycling. A leading manufacturer of to me a good starting point,” BEAR Container, Inc., the Minnesota Office carpeting, Beaulieu of America, needs Chairman Pierre Ferrari said. By of Environmental Assistance and The more plastic bottles to make polyester spring 2001, BEAR had secured com- Coca-Cola Company. carpet. mitments to a Multi-Stakeholder Re- BEAR commissioned Ed Boisson, Concern about the potential impact covery Project (MSRP), which is con- former director of the Northeast Recy- of Coca-Cola using increasing amounts ducting a value chain analysis as one of cling Council (NERC), to act as the of recycled plastic in beverage bottles the first steps in a process that partici- MSRP Project Manager. To provide an brought these parties together in early pants hope will yield new approaches (Continued on page 12)

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 4 Summer/Fall 2001 BEVERAGENEWS ANALYSIS INDU STRY WATCH

Plastic Bottle Waste Dramatically Exceeds Recycling in 2000

WASHINGTON, DC — Plastic bot- “While APC is eager to boast that a utilization rate and a recycling rate each tle recycling increased by only 2 million 1,511 million pounds of plastic bottles year. In 2000 NAPCOR put the recy- pounds last year, while resin sales in- were collected for recycling last year cling rate at 22.3 percent and the utiliza- creased by 80 million pounds. The net they aren’t bragging about the growing tion rate at 18.0 percent. result is that plastic bottle waste in- waste problem,” said King. “Plastics are clearly the fastest grow- ing packaging material. Even though there has been progress in building the PET Bottle Wasting and Recycling — 1990 through 2000 collection infrastructure in the past dec- ade, it’s very expensive to collect plastic 3000 bottles through curbside programs,” King Recycled said. 2500 Wasted The biggest increase in PET plastic 2000 bottle recycling last year was in Califor- nia, through the expanded bottle bill pro- 1500 gram. Preparing the annual analysis of plastic container recycling rates, the Cali- 1000 fornia Integrated Waste Management

(Thousand Tons) Board staff concluded that without the 500 expanded deposit system the rates would have dropped further. 0 California collected 42 percent more 5 6 7 8 9 0 9 9 9 9 0 PET bottles through the deposit system 9 9 9 9 0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 199 1 1 1 1 2 in 2000 compared to 1999. That was really the only bright spot and it kept the Source: American Plastics Council national PET plastic bottle recycling rates from sliding down even further. creased by 78 million pounds, based on Read closely and one finds that The situation in California is likely data from the American Plastics Council plastic resin sales increased by 80 mil- to improve this year, because all the new (APC) in its annual report on post- lion pounds, bringing total resin sales types of beverages in the deposit system consumer plastics recycling. to 6,915 million pounds in 2000. In must be labeled as having Container Re- The PET plastic bottle recycling rate other words, resin sales for plastic bot- fund Value (CRV) as of January 2001 declined again last year, dropping to an tles increased 40 times more than plas- and the state is conducting a two-year, 11-year low of 22 percent. The five-year tic recycling. $10 million consumer education cam- decline persisted despite the continued Probe a little deeper and the pic- paign to boost recycling. growth in curbside recycling. The HDPE ture looks worse. bottle recycling rate was flat at 23.8 per- While APC reports Growth of Single-Serve PET Soft Drink Bottles* cent. pounds of plastic APC data shows that PET and bottles collected for 20 HDPE account for 99 percent of plastic recycling, industry bottles recycled in the United States last sources have long 16 year. acknowledged that When APC adds additional types of roughly 20 percent 12 plastic bottles made from PVC, LDPE/ of the plastic bottles LLDPE, PP and PS, the overall plastic collected for recy- 8 bottle recycling rate was 21.8 percent. cling are rejected “When nearly 80 percent of plastic due to contamina- 4 bottles are thrown away rather than recy- tion or material loss of Containers Billions cled, the news really isn’t good no matter in the recycling how the trade associations try to spin the process. In fact, 0 story,” CRI Senior Policy Analyst Lance NAPCOR, the PET 97 King said after reviewing newly released bottle trade associa- 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 19 1998 1999 2000 data from APC and NAPCOR. tion publishes both * Containers under 1 Liter

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 5 Summer/Fall 2001 STATE UPDATE

SUMMARY: More than 50 bottle bill Missouri: New Attack on Local Deposit Ordinance proposals were introduced in 18 states, the city of Columbia, Missouri and COLUMBIA — Having survived The council authorized Mayor Puerto Rico in 2001. The bills would three repeal referenda since it was en- Darwin Hindman to appoint a citizen do one of three things: (1) create a new acted in 1977, the nation's only local task force to study the deposit ordi- deposit system; (2) expand a current beverage container deposit ordinance, nance and make recommendations to program to include additional types of in Columbia, Missouri, is again under improve it. Hindman told the council beverages; or (3) repeal an existing bot- attack. and citizens, "The deposit creates an tle bill program. CRI is featuring the In March 2001 the city council de- incentive to avoid littering — an incen- Hawaii bottle bill in the state update bated a proposal to repeal the deposit tive to pick up litter without cost to tax- because it could become the first state requirement and replace it with a 1-cent payers." He suggested the task force to adopt a deposit system since 1986. non-refundable tax on beverage con- find ways to address the concerns of Expansion proposals with credible tainers to fund a "Keep America Beau- retailers and investigate the feasibility backing have been introduced in sev- tiful" type of educational program. of purchasing reverse vending ma- eral states including Iowa, Michigan Warning that education alone could chines. and New York. Surprisingly, 30 years never match the bottle bill’s 87 percent A lone container deposit opponent after the first bottle bill became law in return rate, Columbians Against launched a petition drive over the sum- Oregon, opponents in the beverage and Throwaways (CAT) worked to defeat mer months to put repeal of the deposit food industry still want deposit laws this proposal. ordinance on the ballot in November. repealed. While sometimes worded to Repeal advocates argued that the He failed to get enough signatures to disguise the intent, repeal efforts are city's "blue bag" program for commin- get the measure on the ballot, but has being pursued in Massachusetts, Iowa, gled recyclables makes the deposit un- vowed to get the signatures for a ballot New York and Columbia, Missouri. necessary. CAT refuted this by report- vote next April. ing that only 25 percent of eligible CAT plans to counter repeal efforts Bottle Bill Legislation households actually use the program. with its ideas for mitigating retailer ob- CAT agreed that the law should be jections and is distributing a new bro- New Bottle Bill Proposals changed to provide a per-container han- chure touting the benefits of the deposit • Arizona dling fee to retailers. ordinance titled "It's Too Good to • Arkansas On March 19th, after an hour of Throw Away".

• Hawaii public testimony and lengthy state- • Illinois ments by council members, the council Contributed by Winifred Colwill Co-Chair, CAT Email Winifred at [email protected] for more • Kentucky narrowly rejected the tax proposal. information. • New Hampshire • North Carolina • Oklahoma Connecticut: Legislation Expanding Program Passes • Pennsylvania Environment Committee, Then Stalls • South Dakota • Texas HARTFORD — Representative increasingly these beverage cans and Richard Roy introduced legislation to bottles are purchased and consumed • Puerto Rico expand Connecticut's beverage con- away from home and recycling bins." Updating Bottle Bills tainer deposit system. The Environ- A Bottle Bill Working Group, • Columbia, Missouri ment Committee Chair, Rep. Jessie heavily laden with what Sierra Club • Connecticut Stratton, supported the bill that passed lobbyist Betty McLaughlin calls "anti- • Iowa her committee by a margin of 15 to 13. expansion industry lobbyists", studied • Maine It remains bottled up in the General expansion options last summer. But • Massachusetts Law Committee. the Connecticut General Assembly • Michigan Roy called it "a victory for once again failed to act on what • New York [beverage industry] lobbyists," and McLaughlin refers to as "common • Oregon vowed to reintroduce the bill in 2002. sense legislation." Under consideration He acknowledged that the large number was expansion of the state's 20-year- Repeal Bills of curbside recycling programs old, highly successful and very popular • Columbia, Missouri throughout the state make recycling deposit law to include the sports drinks, • Iowa convenient, but said "We don't capture iced teas, bottled waters, etc., that did • Massachusetts enough of the containers there because not exist when the original law was • New York passed in 1978.

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 6 Summer/Fall 2001 STATE UPDATE California: Ups and Downs in First Year of Expanded Deposit Program

SACRAMENTO — Implementa- Board found that the expanded deposit RECYCLE. tion of an expanded beverage container system is already having a positive im- IT'S GOOD FOR THE BOTTLE. deposit system in California last year pact on the total number of plastic bot- IT'S GOOD FOR THE CAN. increased the number of bottles and tles recycled. cans recycled by 448 million, for a total The number of PET bottles recy- of 10.2 billion containers recycled in cled in California increased from 829.9 2000. At the same time, California’s million in 1999 to 1.2 billion in 2000. beverage container recycling rate suf- Beginning in January 2001, all fered an alarming decline in 2000 to containers covered by the California 61, according to a Department of Con- redemption system must be labeled servation release. with the Container Refund Value The recycling rate was down 13 (CRV). This step, combined with ex- percent from the previous year. “We panded consumer education, is ex- expected a drop, but not like this,” said pected to lead to higher recycling rates. Darryl Young, director of California’s The California Department of Con- Department of Conservation, which servation plans to report results for the administers the program. first half of this year in November. Expanding the deposit system to include bottled water, juices, teas and Reprinted with permission of California Department of Conservation sports drinks added some 3.4 billion containers to the program. Legislation Iowa: Future of Bottle Bill at Stake passed in late 1999 allowed for imple- Expansion or Repeal? mentation without changes in labeling last year. DES MOINES – An epic battle Boettger (R), never got a hearing, de- The Department of Conservation is over the future of the Iowa bottle bill is spite a broad base of support. aware that many consumers may not taking shape. At first glance it appears Supporters of SF 97 include Gov- have been aware that billions more that broad agreement exists for expand- ernor Tom Vilsack (D), and former beverage containers now have a re- ing the 22-year deposit law to include Governors Terry Branstad (R) and demption value. A two-year media and non-carbonated beverages and increas- Robert D. Ray (R), 21 business leaders outreach campaign is underway, with ing the handling fee. and more than a dozen statewide or- $10 million authorized by the Legisla- In reality, one approach would cut ganizations in the Beautiful Land Coa- ture. the heart out of the recycling system by lition. Members of the coalition in- The 10.2 billion containers recy- effectively eliminating grocery and clude: Iowa State Association of Coun- cled in 2000 is the highest number of convenience stores as redemption sites, ties; Iowa League of Cities; Iowa Recy- containers recycled in 9 years. How- reducing redemption locations for con- cling Association; Iowa Association of ever, another six billion containers sumers from approximately 3,000 now County Conservation Boards; Iowa were thrown away. to around 100, according to Iowa Recy- Conservation Education Council; Ecu- Plastic bottles constitute the largest cling Association Executive Director menical Ministries of Iowa; Iowa portion of containers added to the de- Dewayne Johnson. Champions of the United Methodist Church; and the Iowa posit system in 2000. PET bottles cov- so-called 'repeal' approach are Senator Wildlife Federation. ered by the law increased from 10 per- Merlin Bartz (R), who introduced SF The Bartz and Brunkhorst bills, cent market share in 1999, under the 194, and Representative Bob Brunk- disguised as expansion bills, really old system that covered beer, carbon- horst (R), who introduced HSB 142. were repeal measures at heart. Both ated drinks and wine coolers, to 20 per- The second approach also expands bills passed policy committees, but cent market share in 2000, with the ad- the deposit requirements to non- died in the Ways and Means Commit- dition of many more types of bever- carbonated beverages and raises the tees of each chamber. ages. handling fee from one cent to two A reliable source tells CRI that the As a result of the sudden change, cents. However, it maintains the cur- Republican leadership in both the the recycling rate for PET deposit bot- rent, widespread system of grocery and house and senate was committed to tles plummeted almost 50 percent in convenience store redemption sites. keeping the 'real expansion' bill, SF 97, 2000. However, analysis by the Cali- The second approach, SF 97, intro- bottled up. The battle is expected to fornia Integrated Waste Management duced by Representative Nancy resume in 2002.

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 7 Summer/Fall 2001 STATE UPDATE

Hawaii Bottle Bill (Continued from page 1) Key Features of Hawaii Bottle Bill, HB 1256 ber and a final report before the Legisla- ture returns for the next session in Janu- • Application of a refundable deposit to carbonated and non-carbonated bever- ary 2002. ages, except dairy products. “Unless the industry comes up with • Creation of a special state fund for the deposits. an alternative acceptable to the Legisla- • A 2-cent fee paid by distributors that will be used to pay costs of handling bever- ture, the bottle bill could be voted out age containers by redemption centers. within 72 hours,” Richard Botti, execu- • Establishing a system of redemption centers to overcome objections of retailers tive director of the Hawaii Food Industry to taking bottles and cans back, so long as redemption centers are within one Association told CRI in a recent inter- mile of retailers. view. • Exemption of smaller retailers, the so-called ‘mom and pop’ stores. Hawaii stands poised to become the • No need to sort containers by brand, which reduces labor needs and produces a first state to adopt a beverage container tremendous cost savings. deposit law since 1986. But opponents • Use of unredeemed funds for administration, consumer education, market devel- are working hard behind the scenes to opment and other needs. peel away support, while the industry • Reporting by distributors on sales of beverages. study moves forward. • Evaluation of the effectiveness of program implementation. CRI research and interviews re- vealed several factors leading to swift • Administration by the state Department of Health. action on the bottle bill this year. While litter, tourism and landfill concerns growing problem of beverages con- The hotel industry will benefit di- prompted the legislation, it appears that a sumed away from home and the grow- rectly from passage of deposit legisla- unique coalition led by state and local ing problem of plastic bottle waste, Sal- tion. “Hotels currently pay employees to public officials found a receptive audi- monson told CRI. collect bottles and cans for recycling. ence among legislators. Supporters of Tourism is vital to the state’s econ- With HB 1256, they will receive an esti- the Morita bill include local solid waste omy, which has experienced a major mated $500,000 to $750,00 in income and recycling officials, the State Depart- downturn. While keeping tourist dol- each year from refunds on deposits,” ment of Public Health, recycling busi- lars flowing is deemed essential, it also Jones said. nesses, environmental groups and a de- poses special problems for recycling. Collaborative Approach to Developing termined group of elementary school stu- “We have 1.2 million residents in 21st Century Bottle Bill dents. The bottle bill has received edito- Hawaii. More than 7 million tourists rial support from leading newspapers. visit every year,” said Honolulu Recy- Until this year, bottle bills have been Some of the sources contacted by cling Coordinator Suzanne Jones. Re- proposed for many years without suc- CRI describe the bottle bill as a ‘litmus cycling and waste reduction programs cess. One key difference in the proposal test’ issue for the Hawaiian Legislature are well developed, but the problem of introduced in the 2001 Legislative Ses- in 2002. Whether the public weighs in bottle and can waste just keeps getting sion was the process for developing it. during the next few months may deter- worse, particularly as new types of bev- “We took a collaborative approach,” mine the outcome of this legislative bat- erages and packaging have entered the said Jones. Representatives of state and tle. marketplace in the past two decades. local government, recycling businesses, Food and beverage industry oppo- environmental organizations and other Protecting Island Beauty and the nents have long advocated curbside concerned citizens worked together. Tourism Industry recycling as an alternative. Local gov- Bottle bill proponents reached out to the “Unsightly litter on beaches, road- ernment in Honolulu, the state’s largest opposition in the food and beverage in- sides and in parks is a problem that the population center, has so far rejected dustry, attempting to address as many of bottle bill would greatly reduce,” says curbside recycling as too expensive and their concerns as possible. Genny Salmonson, director of Hawaii’s largely ineffective as a means of coping Proponents also decided to develop Office of Environmental Quality Control. with bottles and cans discarded by tour- legislation tailored to Hawaii’s needs and Salmonson, an appointee of Governor ists. evolving beverage markets. Elements of Benjamin J. Cayetano, has a recycling The problem with curbside recy- traditional deposit laws and alternative background and has worked on solid cling in Hawaii according to approaches were blended together. waste concerns for several years in state Honolulu’s Deputy Director for Solid The proposal ultimately introduced government. Waste, Frank Doyle, is that “7 million in the legislature had broad support in Bottle bills reduce litter, address the tourists don’t have curbs.” part because so many other segments of

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 8 Summer/Fall 2001 STATE UPDATE

Hawaii Bottle Bill “there was a core of support” for the The Container Recycling Institute (Continued from page 8) bottle bill at the start of the year. She was invited to provide expert testimony the waste stream had already been ad- credits solid waste management offi- on the Morita bill in both the house and dressed through public and private recy- cials and students with providing en- senate. CRI Executive Director Pat cling, composting and waste reduction couragement to pursue the issue. Franklin urged legislators to look closely initiatives. Early in the process, it appeared at the facts, which show states with de- Honolulu City and County focused that her bill might die in one house posit laws typically have recycling rates in the 1990’s on the commercial waste committee. But with evidence of a that are 2 or 3 times higher than non- stream initially. Restaurants, bars, hotels continuing dialogue between supporters deposit states. CRI also pointed out that and many other businesses have well es- and opponents, the bottle bill survived. many of the potential problems often tablished recycling programs. Turning to Morita leads the House Delegation cited by opponents of bottle bills have the beverage waste problem seemed a on the conference committee. She de- not been serious problems. logical next step. scribed the key issue in the bottle bill Bottle Bill is Elementary to debate in an interview with CRI. Recycling, Students Say “Bottom line, you either pay as a Bottle Bill Supporters consumer or as a taxpayer,” Rep. Mo- Support for the bottle bill is elemen-

rita said. “We live on islands. We only tary, at least that is the message from 5th • State Department of Health th have so much land.” and 6 grade students in Hawaii. • State Office of Environmental The Oahu landfill only has 18 Kimberly Mokuau, a sixth grade stu- Quality Control months of capacity remaining she said. dent at Kualapuu School, appeared be- • City & County of Honolulu, De- As initially introduced, Morita’s fore the House Committee on Judiciary partment of Environmental Ser- bill required a 5-cent deposit on con- and Hawaiian Affairs, to support the bot- vices tainers 24 ounces or smaller, and 15 tle bill. In a detailed statement, she ad- • County of Maui, Public Works cents on larger containers. The amount dressed the main arguments used by op- • County of Kauai, Public Works of the deposit is one of the issues to be ponents. • County of Hawaii, Public Works resolved in conference committee. • Island Recycling Company Opponents of Morita’s bottle • Honolulu Recovery Systems bill legislation are led by the food • Recycling Systems Hawaii and beverage industry. Their gen- • Aloha Plastic Recycling eral attitude was summed up by • Aloha Glass Recycling Richard Botti of the Food Industry • Sierra Club Association as “anything but the bot- • Life of the Land tle bill.” Sources tell CRI that these in- • UH Sea Grant dustry groups were caught off-guard • Citizen Action Project and a rift developed between food • Kualapuu Prism Project and beverage groups. The Food In- dustry Association proposed a one- “It’s their turn,” Jones said, referring half cent advanced disposal fee, to the beverage industry waste problem. which Botti says would generate $5 Kimberly Mokuau testifies in support of proposed bottle bill Refundable deposits are seen as the best million a year. “I think recycling is everbody’s re- means to increase recycling of the esti- Beverage industry opponents sponsibility. The person who buys the mated 880 million bottles and cans sold pushed for a study of ‘comprehensive beverage should be responsible that the in the state last year. approaches’ to solid waste, a tactic of- container doesn’t end up in the landfill, Drop-off systems already in place ten employed in other state bottle bill and the beverage industry should support capture an estimated 20 percent of bottles battles. Pepsi General Manger Gary the programs that provide incentives to and cans, according to the City and Yoshioka is overseeing the industry the consumer to act responsibly,” Kim- County of Honolulu. States with bottle funded study by Cascadia. berly Mokuau said. bills typically achieve an 80 percent re- In the end, bottle bill opponents While the fight for a bottle bill in cycling rate, proponents told legislators. succeeded in delaying final passage of Hawaii is still far from over, Representa- the Morita bill in order to develop an tive Morita’s bill moved farther and Legislative Process industry alternative. The senate faster than any legislation proposed in Representative Morita is a soft- changes forced Morita’s bill to a house the last 15 years anywhere in the United spoken, determined legislator, who says and senate conference committee. States.

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 9 Summer/Fall 2001 STATE UPDATE Massachusetts: Energy Committee Holds Hearings on Puerto Rico: Bottle Bill Bottle Bill Proposals Introduced in Senate

BOSTON — The Massachusetts The 72 percent redemption rate in Mas- SAN JUAN — Senator Cirilo Energy Committee recently held hear- sachusetts is evidence that the bottle Tirado, chairman of the Natural Re- ings on competing proposals to amend bill is working effectively.” sources, Environmental and Energy the state’s 18-year-old bottle bill. One She cited a national trend of in- Affairs Committee, introduced a bever- of the measures, H. 2155, would have creased wasting of all container types, age container deposit bill ,SB 529, on expanded the bottle bill to cover non- despite a tripling in the number of curb- May 7 in the Puerto Rico Senate. All carbonated side programs can, plastic, glass and laminated card- beverages, Growth in U.S. in the last dec- board beverage containers are covered including "New Age" Beverage Consumption ade. by the deposit except those containing sports drinks, 10 “Although 50 cows’ milk products. The deposit bottled water, 9 percent of the amount is five cents regardless of the wine and spir- 8 U.S. popula- 7 size of the container. its, and single- 6 tion now has Food and beverage industry oppo- serving iced 5 access to curb- nents of deposit legislation typically tea, juice 4 side,” she told lament the burdens that such laws place drinks, herbal 3 the committee, 2 upon them. Tirado’s bill substantially beverages. 1 “Americans minimizes these burdens by relieving Another bill, 0 waste 143,000 distributors and retailers of redemption H. 2888, was (billions of containers) tons more alu- and handling of the empty beverage 3 9 a beverage- 9 994 minum cans, containers. After collecting the deposit 1 1 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 industry 245,000 tons from the consumer, the retailer turns backed repeal Non-carb. Bottled Water more glass bot- the deposit amount over to the Puerto Liquid Iced Tea proposal, Sports Drinks tles, and Rico Treasury Department. From this which would 386,000 tons point forward, distributors and retailers have phased more plastic Sources: Tea and water figures derived from "Beverage Packaging have no further obligation. Govern- out the state’s the U.S. 2000," Beverage Marketing Corporation. Sports drinks bottles than ment certified redemption centers figures from e-mail communication with Roger Dilworth, Beverage container de- Marketing Corporation, 5/1/01. they did in would redeem the containers and pre- posit law over 1992, when sent the person with a “cash due” ticket three years only 15 percent that can be cashed at supermarkets and and attempted to replace it with of the country had access to curbside convenience stores that have installed “comprehensive” recycling programs in recycling.” She called the beverage the necessary equipment. public places and increased curbside industry’s portrayal of the debate as a The nickel deposit would eventu- recycling access. choice between curbside and bottle ally be divided as follows: 3 cents Both the repeal bill and the expan- bills a “false dichotomy,” arguing that would be returned to the consumer, 1.5 sion bill were tabled for study by the because so many beverages are now cents to the redemption centers for han- committee. Local news media charac- consumed away from home, both sys- dling and processing, 0.2 cents would terized the situation as a stalemate, with tems are necessary to give consumers become a local government tax, 0.2 legislators loathe to repeal the popular maximum opportunities and incentives cents would go to the Solid Waste Au- law for fear of public opposition and to recycle. thority and 0.1 cents would go to the reluctant to give up about $28 million Gitlitz suggested updating the law distributors to cover labeling costs. in revenues that accrue to the state an- to include the so-called “new age” non- Tapped by Senator Tirado to draft nually from unclaimed deposits. At the carbonated beverages, which were not the bill, Attorney German Gonzalez same time, the beverage industry has so a market presence when the Massachu- believes the bill will be given serious far blocked expansion efforts. setts bottle bill was enacted in 1983. consideration. Gonzalez states that CRI Senior Research Associate “From 1993 to 1999, non-carbonated “the government is desperately looking Jennifer Gitlitz told the committee that beverages sales increased by almost 50 for ways to recycle since it is already repealing the bottle law would be a set- percent nationally; from 23.5 to 33 bil- de facto public policy that Puerto Rico back for the state’s recycling rate. lion,” she said. “They now comprise will not incinerate its trash!” “Nationally, the recycling rate for bev- almost 20 percent of the total U.S. bev- Hearings are anticipated in late erage containers is only 44 percent. erage market.” October or early November.

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 10 Summer/Fall 2001 STATE UPDATE Michigan: Leading Conservation Group Calls for Expanding Beverage Deposit Law

LANSING — Expanding Michi- percent, 210 million containers, went Exploring ways to develop re- gan’s 25-year old beverage container unredeemed that year. demption centers authorized in current deposit law to include water, tea, sports Michigan reports the highest recy- law is one issue raised by MUCC with drink, and fruit juices is one of the top cling rates in the nation under its bever- retailers. Another issue that interests legislative priorities for Michigan age container deposit law, with annual MUCC is exploring means to encour- United Conservation Clubs (MUCC), recycling rates in the range of 95 to 98 age more recycling businesses in the largest conservation organization in percent. CRI research shows that states Michigan, enterprises that could benefit the state. With 100,000 members and with lower deposits have lower recy- from the steady supply of high quality 525 affiliate clubs, MUCC is an organi- cling rates. material generated by the deposit sys- zation that has clout and credibility in Of the $21.9 million in unre- tem. shaping state environmental policy. deemed funds in 1999, $5.4 million “We estimate an additional 800 was returned to retailers to defray sort- Kentucky: Stumbo Will million containers would be covered by ing costs and $16.5 million was used to Have Another Go at expanding the law,” said Dennis Fox, clean-up superfund sites. Retailers get environmental policy specialist for 25 percent of unclaimed deposits and Amendment MUCC. “If these containers had been the special environmental clean-up around when the original bottle bill was fund gets 75 percent of unclaimed de- FRANKFORT — Kentucky House passed, they would already be part of posits. Majority Floor Leader Gregory D. the system.” Expansion efforts target approxi- Stumbo said he will prefile legislation Representative Michael Switalski mately 14 percent of beverages sold in for the 2002 General Assembly placing (D-Roseville) introduced HB 4096, to Michigan, containers that are a growing a Constitutional Amendment on the include non-carbonated beverage con- litter concern for MUCC members. ballot to permit a referendum on a bev- tainers, except milk and dairy products. Seeing plastic water bottles floating on erage container deposit program in the Representative Bruce Patterson (R- Lake Michigan during fishing trips is Commonwealth. Canton), House Majority Floor Leader, an example of the litter that offends Stumbo pointed out that Maine, is co-sponsoring the bill. “Patterson’s conservationists and sportsmen. Michigan and Columbia, Missouri co-sponsorship has created a new, bi- Opponents of the expansion in- adopted deposit programs by referen- partisan effort to expand Michigan’s clude the beverage manufacturers, re- dum. Kentucky voters changed state Bottle Deposit Law,” Fox said in a tailers, wholesalers and bottlers. The law at the ballot box last November, recent interview with CRI. biggest concern of grocers is the impact permitting annual meetings of the Leg- Senator Burton Leland (Detroit) these additional containers will have on islature. introduced SB 223, a more narrowly their already stretched facilities. In a brief session, Stumbo brought targeted proposal to expand the bottle MUCC is working with industry House Bill 9 out of the House Elections deposit law to include non-carbonated groups to address their concerns. “We and Constitutional Amendments Com- fruit beverages. Neither bill has been realize Michigan’s system is 25-years- mittee in 2001. HB 9 would have scheduled for com- old and it’s probably placed the question of beverage con- mittee hearings or time to take a com- tainer deposits on a statewide ballot. votes yet in the first “Expansion legislation is prehensive look at The 45-45 tie vote on the house floor year of a two-year a bi-partisan effort in the entire system to amounted to defeat. legislative session. see if there is room The legislation, as written, does “Passage of the Michigan House,” for improvement,” not outline a specific program. It es- these two bills will says Dennis Fox. said Fox, “but we are sentially presents the following ques- result in almost all also committed to tion to Kentucky voters: "Do you want containers being updating the bottle a beverage container deposit system?" covered by a deposit. It will go along bill to include the new containers.” If the amendment were approved by way towards keeping Michigan’s road- Fox told CRI that if the legislative voters, the legislature would convene to sides, parks, trails, and beaches the effort fails, MUCC is prepared to take hammer out specific details of a bever- cleanest in the nation,” said Fox. the issue to the ballot, which is how the age container deposit law. Current law requires a 10-cent, re- law was enacted in November 2, 1976. Stumbo said he believes that in fundable deposit on beer, soft drinks MUCC was the key organization be- spite of the setbacks, Kentuckians want and wine coolers. In 1999, 4.3 billion hind the referendum effort 25 years to clean up the environment and that a bottles and cans were recycled. Only 5 ago. beverage container deposit law will be the most effective way to achieve this.

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 11 Summer/Fall 2001 STATE UPDATE

Nation’s First Bottle Bill Turns 30 “It made sense then and it makes sense search Group (OSPIRG) mounted an (Continued from page 1) now." initiative in the 1990’s to expand the what it was 30 years ago. If you adjust Bottled water, juices, teas, sports bottle bill program. Massive, out-of- for inflation, a nickel deposit then is the drinks and coffees have emerged as a state beverage industry spending on an equivalent of 22-cents today,” he said. significant part of the beverage indus- 11th-hour advertising campaign de- Benefits of the bottle bill, as try, but these beverages are not subject feated the initiative. Spendelow notes, include a high rate of to deposits in Oregon. Most of the bot- There is interest in updating and recycling for containers covered by the tles and cans containing these bever- expanding the law. Representative law, a dramatic reduction in beverage ages are landfilled and many end up as Carolyn Tomei, a freshman member of container litter, and development of a litter. the Oregon House introduced HB 3974 this year to expand the deposit law. A Nickel Deposit — Adjusted for Inflation Other changes being discussed by some recycling professionals include a han- dling fee paid by bottlers to retailers to 2001 (E) reduce costs, and requiring bottlers and $0.25 $0.22 distributors to report beverage sales. 1989 $0.15 Developing precise figures on re- $0.20 1981 cycling and landfilling of beverage $0.11 containers is difficult, since there are $0.15 no reporting requirements in the current 1971 law. The DEQ must estimate the num- $0.05 ber of containers landfilled without the $0.10 benefit of data held by beverage dis- tributors concerning container refunds. $0.05 “The changing beverage market and the declining value of a nickel are $- reason enough for the state and inter-

6 9 ested parties to consider updating and 971 974 77 80 83 1 1 19 19 19 198 198 1992 1995 1998 2001 expanding the Oregon bottle bill,” said Franklin.

*Chart derived from Consumer Price Index data BEAR Pursues Bottle and Can Waste (Continued from page 4) objective, quantitative analysis of costs, strong recycling commitment in the Plastic beverage packaging devel- BEAR has retained a research consult- state. oped long after Oregon adopted the ing team comprising R.W. Beck, Inc., For a time, deposits strengthened bottle bill. As the fastest growing Franklin Associates, Ltd., the Tellus the position of refillable bottles. But as packaging material, plastics pose Institute and Sound Resource Manage- the beverage industry dismantled the unique problems, due to their relatively ment Group. system of local bottling plants using the high net cost of recycling. Plastic soft Once the research is complete, the same bottles again and again, refilla- drink bottles covered by the bottle bill BEAR Executive Committee and bles largely disappeared. The deposit have a recycling rate that is approxi- MSRP participants will work to de- law became the means to recover one- mately 4 times higher than non-deposit velop a consensus on the best means to way bottles and cans for recycling. plastic bottles. increase recycling of beverage contain- Today, new types of beverages and “Oregonians have recycled billions ers. If no consensus is reached, the packaging, not covered by the law, are of beverage containers that would not BEAR Executive Committee may eroding the effectiveness of the system. have been recycled without deposits. choose to pursue solutions independ- Recycling advocate and editor of Re- However, litter is becoming a problem ently. Whatever the eventual outcome, source Recycling, Jerry Powell calls the again in Oregon and other deposit formation of BEAR and MSRP reflects Bottle Bill a “qualified success.” Ap- states, with the new types of bever- growing concern about the beverage plying the deposit only to what he calls ages,” CRI Executive Director Pat container waste problem and the need “fizzy drinks”, limits the effectiveness Franklin said. to find solutions. of the law. Bottom line says Powell, The Oregon Public Interest Re-

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 12 Summer/Fall 2001 INTERNATIONAL NEWS

“Ecologically damaging packaging” target for deposits in Germany

The German government, in March Trittin stood by the existing law, which serve beverages such as beer and mineral 2001, announced its decision to introduce requires manufacturers to collect re- water and not on others, such as carbon- an amendment to the 1991 Packaging fundable deposits on all one-way, (non- ated soft drinks. Ordinance. The amendment, introduced refillable) beverages that fail to meet An estimated 12.7 billion containers by Juergen Trittin, a leading member of the 72 percent refillable quota estab- would be effected by the proposed the Green Junior Coalition Partners, and lished by the German Packaging Ordi- amendment, which would require a re- a strong supporter of container deposits, nance of 1991. fundable deposit of 0.25 euros ($0.25 would require deposits on all non- When the overall rate dropped be- US) per unit, (0.50 euros for bottles refillable beverage containers except low 72 percent in 1997, the government above 1.5 liter volume) on all disposable wine bottles and aseptic beverage car- intensified monitoring of sales for each (non-refillable) mineral water, beer, car- tons. Trittin said the introduction of a beverage market to determine which bonated soft drink, non-carbonated soft deposit on "ecologically damaging pack- beverages were not reaching the refilla- drink containers except aseptic beverage aging" was aimed at stopping the rise of ble rate they achieved in the base year cartons. The extra cost to industry, esti- cans and disposable glass and plastic bot- of 1991. The table below lists both the mated at less than two pfennigs ($0.009) tles, and stabilizing market share for re- individual quotas for each beverage, per container, was described by the Min- usable and refillable packaging. based on the refillable rates in 1991, ister of Economy Werner Mueller as On July 13, 2001, Trittin's amend- and the refillable rates actually "economically bearable". ment lost in a close vote (34-36) in the achieved in 1999. According to industry sources in Bundesrat, the legislative body that in- The refillable figures for February Germany, the retail industry filed an cludes representatives from each state. 1999 to January 2000 must be pub- injunction against the government to halt Rather than accept a counterproposal, lished in the Federal Gazette of Ger- the publishing of the refillable figures for many before the deposit re- February 1999 to January 2000 in the Market Share of Refillable Bottles quirement goes into effect. Federal Gazette of Germany, which must Since carbonated soft be done before the deposit requirement 1991 1999 drinks met their "refillable" goes into effect. quotas, they are exempt from The Administrative Court of Berlin Mineral Water 91.33% 84.66% the mandatory deposit under decided in favor of the Government but Beer 82.16% 74.51% the original 1991 Packaging the retailers appealed the decision. A Ordinance. In defending his final decision is expected around end of Carbonated Soft Drinks 73.72% 74.50% amendment, that would have September. If the Court rules in favor of Non-carbonated Soft Drinks 34.56% 34.43% included all beverages, the government, Trittin will publish the Trittin argued that the public numbers immediately and the deposit law Wine 28.63% 26.90% will be confused if deposits will be effective as of March or April are required on some single- 2002. TOTAL 72.00% 68.29%

Fun Fact I’d like to support the efforts of the Container Recycling Institute.

“Did you know that refillable bot- Enclosed is my tax-deductible check, payable to CRI for $_____ tles have not completely disappeared in

the United States. Nationally, refilla- Name Mail to: bles comprised just 3.3 percent of beer Container Recycling Institute sales in 1998, but in Massachusetts, a Title bottle bill state, 18 percent of total beer Company/Organization 1911 Ft. Myer Drive, Suite 702 volume was sold in refillable bottles. In seven of the ten bottle bill states Arlington, VA 22209 more than 7 percent of beer volume is Address sold in refillables.” 703/276-9800 Fax: 276-9587 City/State - CRI’s Pat Franklin Phone Fax [email protected]

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 13 Summer/Fall 2001 NEWS ANALYSIS

Shareholders Press Beverage Industry to Increase Recycling: Coke Commits to Small Steps, Pepsi Snubs Effort By LANCE KING Investor proposals pressing man- been subject to a four-year grassroots resolution. Nearly 10 percent of share- agement at The Coca-Cola Company campaign on recycling, while Pepsi holders refused to go along with man- and PepsiCo Inc. to increase recycling “has gotten a free ride,” according to agement, either voting ‘yes’ or abstain- gained more support than expected at GRRN Executive Director Bill Shee- ing. annual shareholder meetings in 2001, han. PepsiCo Inc. investors holding which assures the proposals can be Sheehan told the Pepsi sharehold- 83.3 million shares, worth $3.7 billion, brought back again next year. For the ers that GRRN will begin focusing voted for the recycling resolution. first time in many years, chief execu- pressure on PepsiCo Inc. to take re- Conrad MacKerron, Director of the tive officers from two Fortune 500 sponsibility for its beverage packaging Corporate Accountability Program at companies were compelled to address waste. The Container Recycling Insti- As You Sow Foundation, and Ken recycling issues raised by shareholders. tute teamed up with GRRN and Waste Scott of Walden Asset Management, Management at both Coke and Not Georgia in organizing support for sponsors of the resolutions, called upon Pepsi opposed the shareholder resolu- Coke and Pepsi management to stop tions, which call for both companies to Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2001 opposing bottle bills or come up with use 25 percent recycled plastic in mak- alternative means to achieve compara- ing new soda bottles and reach an 80 ble results. percent recycling rate for all of their CRI provided technical support to beverage containers by 2005. How- shareholder funds developing the reso- ever, responses by the two companies lutions, and CRI Executive Director Pat to shareholders revealed major differ- Franklin addressed Coke and Pepsi an- ences in addressing recycling concerns. nual shareholder meetings. She made Coca-Cola Chairman and CEO two key points, that beverage container Doug Daft announced that his company waste is growing at an alarming rate — plans to use 10 percent recycled- increasing more than 50 percent since content in plastic bottles by 2005 and 1992 — and that financial incentives will work with Businesses and Envi- are essential to increase container recy- ronmentalists Allied for Recycling cling. (BEAR) to increase recycling of bever- Shareholder resolutions are non- age containers. While these modest binding and typically gain support from steps disappointed sponsors of the a small percentage of total sharehold- shareholder resolution and environmen- ers. Resolutions still often are a cata- talists, it was encouraging to see Coke lyst for meaningful changes in corpo- begin to address the growing beverage rate practices. container waste problem. The Atlanta Journal Constitution By contrast, Pepsi management urged Coca-Cola to take up the recy- sought, unsuccessfully, to block the cling challenge contained in the share- shareholder resolution from being holder resolution, noting that Home placed on the proxy statement for a the shareholder resolutions. An adver- Depot and others have responded posi- vote. Pepsi filed objections with the tisement in the Wall Street Journal tively to pressure from investors. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commis- southeast regional edition headlined ‘A If real commitments to boost bev- sion (SEC), but the SEC rejected their Moment of Refreshment, An Eternity erage container recycling fail to materi- request to block it. Pepsi’s new chief of Waste’ urged shareholders to sup- alize, Coke and Pepsi shareholders executive officer, Steve Reinemund, port the resolution. have vowed to bring the issue back listened politely to a parade of speakers Media campaigns and outreach by next year. voicing support for the recycling pro- investment funds informed and edu- posal, but failed to offer any commit- cated shareholders, and secured mean- ment to stem the waste of billions of ingful support for the resolutions. Pepsi bottles and cans each year. Investors holding 88.9 million One possible explanation for the shares of Coca-Cola stock, worth more contrasting positions is that Coke has than $4 billion, supported the recycling

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 14 Summer/Fall 2001 CRI EDITORIAL National News Brief

NSDA, allies plot strategy against LESSONS FROM THE ‘GREATEST GENERATION’ Senator Jeffords’ National Bottle Bill

On September 11, as we were preparing to go to press with this WASHINGTON, DC – The National newsletter, tragedy struck at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon Soft Drink Association (NSDA) held a meeting with industry allies opposed to na- and in the Pennsylvania countryside. Working close to the Pentagon tional bottle bill legislation in August 2001, in Arlington, Virginia, our offices were closed by building manage- according to documents obtained by the ment a couple of hours after the attacks began. Container Recycling Institute. Industry In the days that followed, all of us have struggled with feelings of concern centers on the possibility that shock, disbelief, grief and sympathy for our fellow citizens. All at Senator James Jeffords (I – VT), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public once, the most compelling concerns of daily life and work somehow Works Committee (EPW), will introduce a seemed smaller, less important. new version of his national bottle bill. President Bush called for a National Day of Prayer. Like so many In a related development Senate EPW others, we paused from our daily routines. staff invited representatives from Pepsi, This week the nation begins to pick up the pieces and get back to Coca-Cola, NSDA and CRI to brief them on the state of beverage container recycling work. As the president and world leaders discuss how to respond, and the effectiveness of deposits in increas- few can predict how all our lives will change in coming months and ing recycling and reducing waste. Industry years. We all want to help! opponents charged that bottle bills are inef- Reflecting on the history of recycling, Tom Brokaw’s book on ficient and costly. CRI’s Pat Franklin made the point that deposit states have re- “The Greatest Generation” came to mind. During World War II, mil- cycling rates 2 to 3 times higher than non- lions of Americans saved and recycled all kinds of materials. deposit states. Even today, many of our most ardent supporters speak of habits While Sen. Jeffords is a long-time ad- of thrift and recycling dating back to childhood experiences in the vocate of a national bottle bill, his new po- Great Depression and World War II. sition in the senate affords a greater oppor- tunity to address the issue by holding hear- Sometimes it seems we are fighting a losing battle against the ris- ings and setting the committee agenda. ing tide of bottle and can waste. Then someone calls or writes to re- Jeffords is expected to introduce a national mind us that recycling is about American values and looking out for bottle bill either late this year or early next future generations. year. In Hawaii, during the early months of 2001, elementary school Details of the measure are not avail- able at this time. However, previous bottle students supporting the bottle bill spoke about our shared responsibil- bill proposals introduced by Sen. Jeffords ity to recycle and conserve. It sounded much like the words a grand- required states to reach a 75 percent bever- parent or great grandparent might have spoken. These children re- age container recycling rate or require a 10- mind us that the child is often father to the man. deposit. So while it’s hard to know what to expect in coming months, CRI Senator Jeffords told CRI, "A national deposit system would create a partnership pauses to remember those lost in the tragic attack on America. And between consumers, industry, and local we remember parents and grandparents who taught us so many im- governments. Promoting refund values on portant life lessons. used beverage containers would provide an We are working again, undeterred by the terrorists. We are all incentive for consumers to take a role in grateful for the words of sympathy and support from friends around cleaning up littered highways, saving en- ergy and resources, and reducing waste." the world. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Ultimately, the work we do as recycling advocates is about values Rep. Lynn Rivers (D – MI) introduced a and about the future. We pledge our efforts to seek ways to promote national bottle bill proposal, H.R. 1667, in the common good, as individuals and as a public interest organiza- May 2001. No action is expected in the tion. immediate future.

Container and Packaging Recycling UPDATE 15 Summer/Fall 2001 SPECIAL DOUBLE ISSUE!!

HAWAII — 6th grade student makes case for bottle bill.

“I think recycling is everbody’s responsibility. The person who buys the beverage should be responsible that the container doesn’t end up in the landfill, and the beverage industry should support the programs that provide incentives to the consumer to act responsibly.” — Kimberly Mokuau, Kualapuu PRISM Project

BEAR pursues 80 percent recycling goal

www.BottleBill.org ng.org www.Container-Recycli

100% Post Consumer Recycled Paper with Soy Based Ink