Vote Expected on Bottle Bill on 3/21/07 - Add your voice in support
|
|
|
Vote Expected on Bottle Bill on 3/21/07 – Add your voice in support
The League has just received word from our Coalition partner that the Environment Committee will likely vote on the bottle bill expansion proposal, i.e, Senate Bill 1289 An Act Concerning The Expansion Of The Beverage Container Redemption Provisions, this Wednesday March 21. This bill adds bottled water and non-carbonated beverages, e.g., sport drinks and iced teas, to the beverage container redemption-recycling program and increases the deposit to ten cents.
Please contact your legislators, particularly if they are on the Environment committee if you haven't already gotten a commitment from them. (see talking points below) As of today, it appears that the following Environment committee members are either uncommitted/ undecided or leaning against. Calls from constituents could make the difference! Rep. Russell Morin, 28th District, Wethersfield Rep. Ed Jutila, 37th District, East Lyme Rep. Mike Alberts, 50th District, Woodstock Rep. Bryan Hurlburt, 53rd District, Tolland Rep. Craig Miner, 66th District, Litchfield Rep. Chris Perone,137th District, Norwalk
If you have gotten a commitment from your legislator who serves on the Environment Committee to support the bill, then send an email to thank them for their anticipated yes vote on Wednesday.
To obtain a list of the Members of the Environment Committee: http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/MemberList.asp?comm_code=ENV&doc_type=
To Call: Senate Democrats (860) 240-8600 or 1-800-842-1420 Senate Republicans (860) 240-8800 or 1-800-842-1421 House Democrats (860) 240-8585 or 1-800-842-8267 House Republicans (860) 240-8787 or 1-800-842-8270
Finally, we hope that with your help, the third time will be the charm! This bill failed the first year, and was not called for a vote last year. Please forward this email far and wide. Thank You!
Sincerely, Cheryl Dunson VP Public Isssues
Talking points: Opponents have argued, among other things, that curbside recycling is sufficient and no expanded redemption is needed. The facts indicate the contrary.
Connecticut has had a bottle bill – a five cent deposit on carbonated beverage containers - for 26 years. Curbside recycling, although not available in every town, has been around for 15 years. Actual data can be used to compare the success rates of both of these programs. The best recycling towns in CT have yet to reach 30% recycling rate. The redemption recycling rate is between 66-70% - more than double!
Connecticut does not have sufficient disposal capacity . Our State’s newly adopted Solid Waste Management Plan states simply and clearly “There is not enough disposal capacity in Connecticut to handle all waste generated in the state.” If we maintain the current 30% diversion rate, by 2024 we will be shipping approximately 1.6 million tons of waste out of state. So we in essence will be paying twice, once as a local taxpayer for curbside recycling and then as a state taxpayer to dispose of our waste out of state.
Curbside recycling is needed for items consumed at home like mayonnaise jars and peanut butter jars that are emptied infrequently. Curbside recycling doesn’t capture beverage containers that are usually consumed away from home, where there are no blue bins. No one carries their empty containers home to recycle.
Redemption recycling is user-funded privately. Curbside is funded by taxpayers. According to a newly released 2005 estimate from the Container Recycling Institute (a Washington, DC-based nonprofit), 425 million water bottles alone were sold in Connecticut that year – that represents approximately 120 bottles for every man, woman and child in the state! Yes, all consumers are taxpayers, but not all taxpayers are consumers of these particular products. That's why a user fee for these abundant containers is fairer.
|
|
