EARTH DAY, Bottle Bill, 30 Years Later

22 April 2002

Happy Earth Day! As you are well aware, we began celebrating the health of our planet in the early 1970s through Earth Day. Around the same time, the states of Oregon and Vermont passed landmark bottle deposit legislation to address their growing litter problems. Today, decades of data from those states and eight others underscore the effectiveness and popularity of the bottle bill. Its successes in reducing litter and increasing recycling have stood the test of time.

A CLEANER ENVIRONMENT

With the Bottle Bill, the financial incentive to recycle has lead to vast decreases in litter in the bottle bill states. After enacting a bottle bill, New York enjoyed a 70 - 80% reduction in beverage container litter[1], while Oregon saw an 83% decrease[2]. Maine witnessed a 34 - 64% decrease in total litter[3]. Hawaii will likely enjoy similar results. The State Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism reports that 20,000 beverage containers were picked up in just four hours during the annual “Get the Drift and Bag It” cleanup.

OVERWHELMING PUBLIC SUPPORT

The litter reducing effect of the bottle bill is the main reason that over 92% of Iowa residents support their nearly 25 year-old deposit bill. A December 2000 survey of residents commissioned by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources found that of the 92.5% of respondents that support the bottle bill, 98.7% point to the fact that the bill reduces litter in general.[4] Locally, the bottle bill has found similar support. The bill is backed by the Governor’s administration, all four counties, environmental groups, community organizations, such as the League of Women Voters and Hawaii Bicycle League, the Estate of James Campbell, and an overwhelming majority of the public. Last Friday, the Hawai`i Department of Health released a poll they commissioned of 500 Hawai`i households showing support for the bottle bill at 70%.

NEW INDUSTRY, NEW JOBS

Although originally passed as a litter-reduction measure, the bottle bill has proven effective in vastly increasing recycling and promoting new industry. According to government studies of the bottle bill, both Michigan[5] and New York[6] added nearly 5,000 private-sector jobs each after the measures were enacted.

MORE RECYCLING, SMALLER LANDFILLS

The ten states with bottle bills recycle between 80 – 90% of all beverage containers, while Hawai`i currently recycles approximately 20%. According to the Container Recycling Institute, the bottle bill states recycle more beverage containers than the other 40 states combined. In Hawai`i, 75,000 bottles and cans are thrown out or littered every hour (on average) statewide. On O`ahu, it is estimated that a bottle bill could divert around 5% of the total waste stream by volume.

SAFER BEACHES AND PARKS

Reducing glass bottle litter may also improve safety in our parks and beaches. Broken bottles can cut children’s feet. One study, reported in the American Journal of Public Health, was undertaken at the Emergency Room of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston to determine the effect of deposit legislation on the incidence of lacerations in urban children. The study was conducted during the three years before implementation of the bottle bill and the year after implementation. The incidence of glass-related lacerations fell by 60%, due to a reduced incidence in lacerations occurring outside of the home. The authors of the study concluded that the reduction in glass-related injuries was associated with the implementation of Massachusetts’ beverage container deposit law.[7]

LITTLE IMPACT ON BUSINESS

While bottle bill opponents warn of potential negative impacts on business, the data from 30 years of bottle bills just doesn’t support their position. Sales figures for a 3-5 year period after the law was passed show sales increased at or above the national average in most of the states with deposit laws.[8] In fact, shortly after implementation of the Massachusetts bottle bill, Donald J. Dowd, Vice President of Coca-Cola New England was quoted in the Boston Globe saying, “Our prices pre-bottle bill and post-bottle bill are virtually the same.” What’s more, consumers returning empty beverage containers are likely to make a purchase at the store after redemption. In the Iowa consumer survey, 77.8% of respondents make purchases at the store when they redeem their beverage containers.[9]

LOWER TAXPAYER BURDEN

A container deposit system would reduce costs of disposal, recycling and litter clean-up currently paid for by local government and taxpayers. In Oregon, a savings of $656,832 in trash pick-up, hauling and landfilling was reported the first year after enactment of the bottle bill.[10] In Hawai`i, the bottle bill may bring savings to taxpayers up to $2 million annually. The current actual cost for per ton tipping fee through the O`ahu transfer station is nearly $120 per ton. Considering that the bottle bill will help to recycle nearly 640 million bottles and cans annually, and with beverage containers averaging 20 containers per pound (mixed aluminum, glass and plastic), 16,000 tons of waste will be diverted from island landfills. That amounts to $1.92 million in taxpayer savings, ignoring the savings from trash collection.

IMPROVED IMAGE FOR TOURISM

Hawaii’s tourism economy depends on a clean, litter-free, beaches, trails, and roadsides—and the perception that we care about the environment. The bottle bill will go a long way in improving Hawaii’s image, both on-the-ground and with the positive message that recycling sends to tourists. A 2001 University of Hawai`i study be the Travel Industry Management School found that litter was a major environmental turn-off to visitors. Regarding visitors’ environmental perceptions of Hawai`i, the report said: “The most comments were made on recycling programs throughout the islands. No recycling of bottle, cans, and papers available in most of the tourists sites disturbed many respondents. One commented: ‘considering the fact that so many come from areas where recycling is a way of life, it goes against our nature to throw cans, bottles, and newspapers in regular garbage cans.’”[11]

Other tourism-dependent states have recognized this important connection. According to Maine’s Governor Angus King: “As a tourist-oriented state whose major attraction is its natural beauty, we are very aware of the contribution of the deposit system in keeping our roadsides clean…The deposit law has had a positive effect in fostering over 1,600 jobs with annual wages of $22.8 million at local redemption centers throughout the state.”

The bottle bill makes sense for Hawai`i. We can turn to the decades of success that the bottle bill has brought states with this legislation. The facts speak for themselves. Please, let Hawai`i carry the Bottle Bill’s proud tradition forward.

Jeff Mikulina

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Final Report of the Temporary State Commission on Returnable Beverage Containers,New York, March 27, 1985, p. 62.

[2] Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon’s Bottle Bill: The 1982 Report, p. 26.

[3] U.S. General Accounting Office.Report by the Comptroller General of the United States, State’s Experience With Beverage Container Deposit Laws Shows Positive Benefits, December 11, 1980, p. 9

[4] Center for Social and Behavioral Research, University of Northern Iowa. Beverage Container Deposit Law: A Survey of Adult Iowans, December, 2000, p.20-23. Full report: http://csbsnt.csbs.uni.edu/dept/csbr/data/dnr_bott00/

[5] U.S. G.A.O. Report by the Comptroller General of the United States, “States’ Experience With Beverage Container Deposit Laws Shows Positive Benefits,” December 11, 1980

[6] Final Report of the Temporary State Commission on Returnable Beverage Containers, New York, March 27, 1985

[7] M. Douglas Baker, MD, Sally E. Moore, and Paul H. Wise, MD, PhD, MPH. The Impact of ‘Bottle Bill’ Legislation on the Incidence of Lacerations in Childhood, AJPH, October 1986, Vol. 76, No. 10.

[8] U.S. G.A.O. Report to the Congress by the Comptroller General of the United States, Potential Effects of a National Mandatory Deposit on Beverage Containers, December 7, 1977. See also: http://www.bottlebill.org/Economic/sales.htm for a complete list.

[9] Center for Social and Behavioral Research, University of Northern Iowa. Beverage Container Deposit Law: A Survey of Adult Iowans, December, 2000, p.20-23.

[10]Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon’s Bottle Bill, a 1982 Report, Portland, Oregon, 1982

[11] Environmental Perceptions Among Visitors to the Hawaiian Islands. School of Travel Industry Management, University of Hawai`i Manoa, May, 2001, p.42