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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.