Name: Connecticut’s deposit fee on bottles and cans could rise to 10 cents as lawmakers seek to increase redemption rates and cut down on waste
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Connecticut’s deposit fee on bottles and cans could rise to 10 cents as lawmakers seek to increase redemption rates and cut down on waste

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AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantFeb 19, 2021 at 6:00 amHARTFORD — For 40 years, Connecticut residents have been returning their soda and beer bottles and getting the same amount back: 5 cents.As more bottles have ended up in the trash, Gov. Ned Lamont and House Speaker Matt Ritter of Hartford are now supporting doubling the redemption to 10 cents in an attempt to increase recycling.AdvertisementWith tons of garbage being generated every day, too much trash is either being burned or shipped outside Connecticut borders, Lamont said.“We have an awful lot of waste — trash-to-energy and taken out of state,” he said. “We’ve got to do a better job of recycling, and I think what Matt is talking about with the bottle bill is a good start.”AdvertisementRitter notes that the idea is not his alone, adding that the measure is bipartisan and widely supported by environmentalists.A key problem is that only about 50% of containers in Connecticut are actually redeemed. The others end up in the curbside single-stream recycling system, in the trash or as litter. Many residents who pay the deposit fees simply do not redeem the cans and bottles, allowing the state to collect $43.6 million in the last fiscal year in unclaimed nickels.“I support the idea because I do believe that it will increase recycling rates, and if we don’t get glass out of our single-stream recycling, the tipping fees are just going to continue going up,” Ritter said, acknowledging the step would not solve the entire problem.Like others, Ritter admits that he sometimes does not return his own bottles to the supermarket or place of purchase.“I’ve got to be honest. If I buy a 12-pack of Sam Adams Summer Ale, if I return those 12 cans, I get 60 cents,” Ritter said. “I really don’t do it. Does it amount to a buck 20 a month? I just put it in the blue bin.”Ritter cited the success in Michigan, where the deposit is 10 cents and the state has the best return rates in the country. Michigan topped 90% for multiple years until dipping to 89% in 2018 and 2019 — a rate far beyond Connecticut’s 50% in 2018 and 2019.Among states with bottle bills, Connecticut routinely has the lowest redemption rate — far below places like Maine, Oregon, and California.While the issue has come up in the past, Ritter says the timing is right this year for a change.Advertisement“At the end of the day, because the bill has now become bipartisan, I think it will pass,” he said. “Previously, the bill wasn’t always bipartisan, and I think that makes it hard. Someone is going to go to the store, and they are going to pay 60 cents more for that 12-pack. Even though they can redeem it, it still is higher. People just sometimes don’t like to raise the price of people’s beer. Now that Republicans and Democrats, and mayors and first selectmen on both sides, see the problem, I think the legislature just has more cover.”The 110-member Council of Small Towns, which represents communities with fewer than 35,000 residents, supports the effort.“Towns are facing increased costs for recycling, due in large part to China’s decision to no longer accept any more recyclable materials from the United States,” COST said Thursday. “In the past, recycling was a big revenue generator for towns. To help address these issues, COST supports efforts to increase the bottle deposit to 10 cents and extend the deposit law to other containers.”In the Hartford area, trash has become a major issue after Lamont announced last July that he would not support spending $330 million for improvements to the aging trash-to-energy plant in Hartford’s South Meadows that currently burns about 14,000 tons per week from 51 nearby municipalities.The agency that operates the Hartford trash plant, known as the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority, had called for state subsidies to operate the plant or instead convert operations to a transfer station that would ship garbage to out-of-state landfills. In the short term for the next two to three years, the Hartford plant will continue burning trash as the state explores solutions.Carroll J. Hughes, the executive director of the Connecticut Package Stores Association, said that collecting more bottles and cans will not solve a much broader problem facing the state.Advertisement“What is the difference between a jar of pickles, a jar of olives and a jar of pasta sauce?” Hughes asked Thursday. “They all go into the waste stream. It would be far wiser and more equitable if we had an advance recycling fee on everything that goes into the solid waste stream — equal fees on all products to facilitate recycling. ... The bottle bill is not the solution. You can’t catch up when there are 70 items coming in, and you’re only capturing three of them” for beer, water and soda.With such a wide variety of beverages available, the legislature needs to think more broadly, he said.“It’s a very big issue,” Hughes said.Sen. Christine Cohen, a Guilford Democrat who co-chairs the legislature’s environment committee, said the wording of the bill to potentially increase the deposits has not been finalized. The committee is hoping to pass measures on waste reduction before the legislative session ends on June 6.“I anticipate seeing some language on the bottle bill as we go forward,” she said.Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantFeb 19, 2021 at 6:00 amHARTFORD — For 40 years, Connecticut residents have been returning their soda and beer bottles and getting the same amount back: 5 cents.As more bottles have ended up in the trash, Gov. Ned Lamont and House Speaker Matt Ritter of Hartford are now supporting doubling the redemption to 10 cents in an attempt to increase recycling.AdvertisementWith tons of garbage being generated every day, too much trash is either being burned or shipped outside Connecticut borders, Lamont said.“We have an awful lot of waste — trash-to-energy and taken...

Connecticut’s deposit fee on bottles and cans could rise to 10 cents as lawmakers seek to increase redemption rates and cut down on waste

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