Contrary to Media Buzz, Bottle Bill Still Alive

News Release

BOSTON—As Mark Twain once said, “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” Contrary to some news reports about the Massachusetts House of Representatives budget deliberations, the Updated Bottle Bill WAS NOT voted down during the budget debate. While over 800 amendments to the budget were filed last week, and the Updated Bottle Bill was among those amendments, the vast majority of those amendments never saw the light of day. The amendment that included the Updated Bottle Bill was among those never considered by the members of the House of Representatives.

But, this serves as an important reminder that the bill, H890/S1650, is pending in the Telecom Utilities and Energy (TUE) committee. The committee has procrastinated past the March 21, 2012 legislative deadline. Action on this proposal, which would cut down on litter and increase recycling, has been delayed by the Legislature for over a decade, and the public is understandably impatient.

The Updated Bottle Bill enjoys the support of 77% of the public, according to a poll conducted by the MassINC Polling Group, and 208 cities and towns have endorsed it, as have 375 small businesses. The bill needs to be released from the TUE Committee and brought up for a vote now.

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Bottle Bill Vote High Priority for Local Municipalities

208th Town Endorses HB890/SB1650

News Release - Monday, April 9, 2012

Falmouth - On Thursday, April 5, the town of Falmouth became the 208th municipality in Massachusetts to pass a resolution endorsing the Updated Bottle Bill (HB890/SB1650). The bill would add water, juice, and other containers to those beverage containers which already have a 5 cent deposit. “ This was a long battle that involved bringing it before the Board of Selectmen twice, getting a warrant article issued, attending precinct meetings, getting our message out, and sitting through 15 hours of Town Meeting until the article was taken up for vote. But we did it,” said Janet Kluever, a Falmouth resident who has taken on this issue for the Falmouth Climate Action Team. A statewide poll conducted by MassINC Polling Group last year showed 77% support of the Updated Bottle Bill, with particularly high numbers for coastal areas.

Frustration with the Legislature, which has been sitting on this bill for over a decade, is mounting, and municipal actions like this are aimed at prompting legislative action. Falmouth is represented in the Legislature by Rep. Tim Madden, a longtime supporter of the bill, Rep. David Viera, who has not endorsed the bill, and Senate President Therese Murray who has not endorsed the bill. “We hope our elected officials now see clearly that this issue is a priority for Falmouth residents,” said Kluever. “This bill will reduce litter on our beaches, and save Falmouth thousands of dollars in trash disposal costs.”

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Legislature Delays on Bottle Bill Again

Press Statement from Campaign for an Updated Bottle Bill

While it may be the first day of spring on the calendar, the Legislature stopped the clock today when the massively popular Updated Bottle Bill was stalled once again. The Joint Committee on Telecom, Utilities and Energy, chaired by Rep. John Keenan of Salem and Sen. Ben Downing of Pittsfield,  ‘extended’ their review of the Bottle Bill until 6/15/12, almost one full year after the public hearing where it was considered, and  just weeks before the end of the session.    

“This popular measure, which would increase recycling and reduce litter, has been ‘extended’ for over a decade,” commented Janet Domenitz, Executive Director of MASSPIRG. “This bill, supported by 77% of the public, 207 cities and towns, and hundreds of small businesses, has been bottled up way too long.” 

Eva Valentine, president of the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts said, “Our membership is profoundly disappointed by a process which is dragging out and deferring action on such an important bill.” 

The campaign for the updated bottle bill includes over 90 organizations, among them the Environmental League of MA, the Mass Municipal Association, Mass Audubon, and many more. In addition,  350 businesses and 207 cities and towns have all passed resolutions in support. “The delay follows 14 years of inactivity on the bill as corporate special interests have repeatedly derailed the democratic process on Beacon Hill.   The good weather brings us outside, only to be reminded of the litter and waste that clutters our neighborhoods and parks because the legislature has failed to vote on this bill," said James McCaffrey, Director of the Massachusetts Sierra Club.

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Updated Bottle Bill Campaign Announces Business Support

State House, Boston—In a move designed to counter the big business lobbyists who oppose the bill, the Campaign for an Updated Bottle Bill today launched “Businesses for the Updated Bottle Bill,” an effort which has already garnered the endorsement of 350 small businesses around the state.

"It's fitting that we hold this event on Valentine's Day. As a small business owner, I'm here to say I love the idea that we can decrease litter and increase recycling with the passage of this bill," said Jodie Siegel, owner of "Clear Your Space," a Boston-area business that works with residents and businesses to increase efficiency and reduce waste.

“We’re tired of business as usual, seeing water bottles littered everywhere, when we could be recycling them so easily,” said Janet Domenitz, Executive Director of MASSPIRG, one of the lead groups in the Campaign. “And we’re tired of the big business lobbyists complaining about this bill. We’re here today to show that small businesses, the backbone of the Massachusetts economy, support this bill.”

The original Massachusetts Bottle Bill became law in 1982 when juice, water and sports drink bottles were not part of the beverage market. Because the Bottle Bill does not cover these drinks, millions of containers are ending up as litter or in our landfills and incinerators, costing our cities and towns money in expensive disposal fees.

Today’s event was the launch of this effort, but outreach done by the League of Women Voters-MA, Mass Recycle, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, MASSPIRG, and others resulted in a huge demonstration of support from small businesses. These 350 businesses join a crowded field of supporters of H890/S1650.  A statewide poll conducted by the MassINC Polling Group in 2011 showed 77% of Bay State residents support an update to the Bottle Bill. As of press time, 206 cities and towns in Massachusetts have passed local resolutions in support of the update.

“As a small retail business owner on the Cape, I am painfully aware of how much litter impacts the look and attractiveness of a business area. I heartily endorse the Updated Bottle Bill for many reasons, with litter being among the top of them,” said David Abel, co-owner of the Orleans boutique “Weekend.”

The Legislature has yet to take this bill up in the 2011-2012 session, and it has been pending for several years. “Today's event, showing the support of many businesses, propels the momentum of this bill. Updating the bottle bill will create jobs, lower costs for cities and towns, clean up parks, rivers, streets and highways and is popular with people across the State,” commented Representative Alice Wolf, the chief sponsor the bill. Senator Cynthia Creem serves as the chief sponsor in the Senate.

The Updated Bottle Bill Campaign, comprising 90 organizations including Mass Municipal Association, Mass Audubon, Sierra Club-MA, Environmental League of MA, Surfriders Foundation, and many more, is expanding its outreach to small businesses to counter the influence of the big businesses which oppose the bill.


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Increased Recycling of Beverage Containers Creates Jobs

CRI Releases New Report, “Returning to Work: Understanding the Domestic Jobs Impacts from Different Methods of Recycling Beverage Containers”

Expansion of Massachusetts’ bottle bill could create as many as 500 jobs in Massachusetts, according to a new study by the Container Recycling Institute (CRI) called, “Returning to Work: Understanding the Domestic Jobs Impacts from Different Methods of Recycling Beverage Containers.” Several studies on jobs and recycling have been released this year, and they all show recycling to be an area of jobs growth even during these difficult times. This study is different because it looks specifically at US jobs related to beverage container recycling. The study authors also created a user-friendly jobs calculator, which is available on CRI’s web site (www.container-recycling.org).

A bill to update the state’s current container deposit law has been proposed by Rep. Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge) and Sen. Cynthia Creem (D-Newton), and has wide support from the public and in the state legislature. The bill would add water, sports drinks like Gatorade, and juices to the existing law.

“The Bottle Bill’s ability to vastly decrease litter and increase recycling is well-known and documented,” said James McCaffrey, Director of the Massachusetts Sierra Club. “The added benefit of increased jobs should provide our state legislators to swiftly enact this badly needed bill.”

This report completely dispels any fears of job losses, said Janet Domenitz, the director of MASSPIRG. “This report is more than a stocking stuffer. It proves what a huge gift updating the bottle bill would be to the economic engine we’re trying to jumpstart in Massachusetts.”

The Sierra Club, MASSPIRG, and many other organizations have been working to pass an update to the bottle bill.

“Expanding the bottle bill is good for our neighborhoods, good for our environment, and good for our pocket book,” said Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “This legislation gives us a real opportunity to prevent litter on our streets and in our parks while generating important recycling jobs.”

The study finds that different recycling methods create different numbers of jobs, and deposit-return systems create 11 to 38 times more jobs than a curbside recycling system relative to beverage containers, with the range due to system parameters and system performance.

Prepared by CM Consulting and Sound Resource Management Group, the study examined the three most common U.S. collection methods for beverage containers: beverage container deposit programs; single-family curbside; and multi-family and “enhanced” curbside, which includes community dropoff bins, self-haul and away-from-home collection.

The study explains that the primary driver of jobs in any recycling system is the sheer volume of material entering the system. Container deposit-return (CDR) systems generate dramatically higher volumes of beverage containers than curbside systems, an average of 76 percent recovery in CDR states compared to just 24 percent recovery in non-CDR states.

The secondary driver of container-recycling jobs is the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) workers needed to collect, sort and transport the materials. CDR systems, in which containers are handled more or less individually, employ an average of 7.34 FTEs per 1,000 tons of containers, while curbside systems require an average of 1.66 FTEs in an automated system and 4.46 FTEs in a manual system.

Glass bottles manufactured in a CDR state have six times more recycled content than bottles made in a state without a container deposit (72 percent vs 12 percent). The study also looked at beverage container recycling using virgin raw materials. It found that ten times more US workers are employed in recycling PET than in producing an equivalent amount of PET resin from virgin raw materials (9.9 FTEs per 1,000 tons of recycled PET vs 0.6 FTEs per 1,000 tons of resin from virgin raw materials).

The report is available for download on the CRI web site: www.container-recycling.org and at www.massbottlebill.org

Bridgewater becomes the 205th “Bottle Bill Update” Community

Bridgewater Becomes the 205th “Bottle Bill Update” Community

Bridgewater, MA – Following a request by the Bridgewater Green Committee, and introduced by Peter Riordan, Council member, the Bridgewater Town Council voted unanimously on November 22 to support an update to the state’s Bottle Bill, the 5¢ deposit on beverage containers.

“This sends a strong message to our legislators that the citizens of the Commonwealth see the huge benefits that bottle bill brings us like less litter, and more recycling,” said Bernice Morrissey, a member of the Bridgewater Green Committee. “It will also save the town substantial funds in litter cleanup and disposal costs.”

The grassroots effort to get endorsements from cities and towns was launched last year by the Coalition to Update the Mass Bottle Bill. The effort reached an important milestone in October when the 200th of the 351 cities and towns in the state passed the resolution.

The Updated Bottle Bill, H890/S1650, sponsored by Representative Alice Wolf (Cambridge) and Senator Cynthia Creem (Newton), would add water and juice bottles and similar beverage containers to the current deposit law, which puts a 5¢ deposit on most carbonated beverages. The deposit law, or Bottle Bill, on the books since 1983, is the single most successful recycling tool in the state, with 80% of covered containers redeemed or recycled every year.

“Enacting the bottle bill update will also mean more jobs,” said Phil Sego of the Massachusetts Sierra Club. “Recycling is one of the state’s fastest growing sectors of the economy. We’ve been a national leader in creating jobs. Local recycling companies are eagerly awaiting this update.”

“The numbers say it all: 77% public support according to a MassINC poll, 80 formal bill sponsors in the Legislature, and 205 cities and towns endorsing,” commented Janet Domenitz of MASSPIRG.

The neighboring communities of Easton, Raynham, and Sudbury also recently passed resolutions in favor of the bill’s passage. “Passage of this bill would be a huge help to all cities and towns", said Pat Neary, a Bridgewater Green Committee member. “Everyone will benefit from cleaner streets and parks.”

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Abington St. Patrick’s parade organizer to hit charitable milestone

St. Pat's Day parade organizer may break 2 million mark in '12

News Release: December 5th

[Abington, MA] - Jack Bailey expects to break the 2 million mark by the summer. That’s 2 million bottles and cans worth a cool $100,000.

And it all goes to put on Abington’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade and other town programs. Since 1979, the year Massachusetts enacted a bottle bill, Bailey has been collecting them, and stuffing his garage on Orange Street with people’s donations.

A typical week’s haul is about $6,500, $4,700 of which goes to pay for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and $1,800 for the high school marching band.

The 2012 parade – the town’s 33rd annual – will be held on Sunday, March 18 and is expected to be the biggest and best ever. Eleven bands have already committed to the parade, Bailey said.

As St. Patrick’s Day draws closer, donations pick up, he said.

The parade usually costs about $18,000 to produce. The Abington Arts Council and other donations and sponsorships also help pay for it.

“We don’t overspend. We budget accordingly,” said Bailey, chairman of the parade organizing committee.

Bailey accepted and won a $10 bet in 1980 that he could put together a St. Patrick’s Day parade that would draw a crowd. He’s been doing it every since and the parade has grown in size and participation every year.

Town Manager John D’Agostino called Bailey’s effort to reach the 2 million-$100,000-mark a true milestone.