The bottle deposit won’t increase this year.
State Senator Rachel May announced on Facebook that an agreement could not be reached on a two-house bottle bill.
“I am very disappointed that we were unable to reach agreement on a two-house Bottle Bill this year. We worked extremely hard, met with countless stakeholders and advocates, and did our utmost to reach a compromise that would expand the number of containers covered and raise the handling fee for redemption centers without unduly burdening retailers, recycling agencies, and distributors,” May wrote.
May has been pushing for passage of her Bigger Better Bottle Bill which would add containers such as wine, liquor, and sports drink bottles to the list of containers requiring a deposit as well as raise the deposit price from five to ten cents.
The senator added that she will be looking at the state’s bottle return system over the summer to find a better way to recycle the containers not covered under the current system.
May is also urging the governor to help the approximately 1,000 redemption centers at risk of closing due to being unable to operate without an increase in the bottle handling fee.
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