Bottle Bill Law in New York
The New York Bottle Bill was expanded in April 2009 to include water bottles. This was the first major overhaul of the state’s bottle deposit law since it was created in 1982, and capped a grueling nine-year campaign to expand and update the law.
According to the Container Recycling Institute, more than 3.2 billion water bottles were sold in New York state alone. Water bottles comprise nearly 25% of all beverages sold in New York, and are one of the most common items found in litter cleanups in New York.
The expansion was set to go into effect on June 1st, 2009, but was stalled by a lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed because the legislation exempts non-carbonated sugar drinks.
On August 13, a judge with the U.S. District Court-Southern District of New York issued a ruling that clears the way for most parts of New York state’s beverage container deposit expansion to proceed. The expansion went into effect on October 31st, 2009.
The Good News: Number to date
- In its first year of implementation, the state of New York has collected over $120 million in unclaimed deposits from the expanded bottle bill, according to Taxation and Finance data;
- The expansion helped to create new jobs. The number of registered redemption centers which take back empty containers grew by 113 in 2009 and an additional 131 as of October 2010. Many of these small businesses have been able to expand and increase their employees’ wages and benefits.
