Vermont Bottle Bill Law

Vermont's Beverage Container Law was enacted in 1972 and covers beer, soda, liquor and mixed wine drinks in metal, glass, plastic or paper (excluding biodegradable containers).

Under the law, consumers pay a deposit of 5 cents (or, 15 cents for liquor) when they buy those beverage containers.  Consumers can then return their empty bottles to redemption centers or retailers and receive their deposit back.  

The law also includes an "extended producer responsibility" or "EPR" component.  EPR policies hold manufacturers responsible for the products they create or distribute when those products reach their end of life.  In Vermont, manufacturers must pick up the beverage containers that were redeemed, or pay the redemption centers or retailers for handling the containers. 

In addition to taking their beverage containers to redemption centers or retailers, the majority of Vermont residents also have the option of recycling their containers by placing them in curbside bins.  The combination of these recycling methods has proven successful.  According to the Vermont Solid Waste Management Division, 73 million containers were recycled statewide in 2008. Vermont's beverage container recycling rate is among the highest in the nation,  at 85%.

Yet, despite its success, two bills have recently been introduced in the Vermont Legislature that would repeal Vermont's Bottle Bill, and pose a serious threat to the state's beverage container recycling.

H.696:  "Vermont Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2010" ("VEPRA")

VEPRA would repeal the Vermont Bottle Bill and replace it with an extended producer responsibility requirement.  While Campaign for Recycling generally supports EPR policies, the current Bottle Bill already has EPR requirements in place that are superior to those proposed in VEPRA.   This bill poses a serious threat to Vermont's beverage container recycling.

Summary of the Legislation:  Instead of the current Bottle Bill deposit system, producers of packaging and printed material, including beverage containers, would be required to develop plans for recovering these materials and financing the program through fees.  Within a year of the time the program is approved, the bill requires municipalities and solid waste districts to implement mandatory recycling requirements and "pay-as-you-throw" pricing for household waste collection and disposal.  The legislation also provides for reporting requirements and enforcement guidelines.

Sponsors:  Representatives Margaret Cheney, Sarah Edwards, Anthony Klein, and Joseph Krawczyk.

Status:  Referred to the House Commitee on Natural Resources. Died in 2010.

Why We Oppose:  Currently, Vermont residents can recycle their beverage containers by placing them in their curbside bins or by returning them to retailers and redemption centers to collect a 5-cent or 15-cent refund.  This law has helped Vermont achieve high recycling rates of its beverage containers for over 35 years.

Yet, despite its success, VEPRA proposes to repeal the Bottle Bill.  The result would likely be a recycling system that would only involve curbside recycling.  While curbside recycling works well in conjunction with the Bottle Bill, a curbside recycling program by itself is problematic because it:

• Does not target containers consumed away from home;
• Results in lower recycling rates because it does not provide a financial incentive to recycle; and
• Results in lower quality materials for reuse.

In fact, a 2002 study found that those states that, like Vermont, used a deposit system in conjunction with another means to recycle beverage containers, such as curbside recycling, enjoyed a recycling rate of more than two and a half times greater than in states without a deposit system.  ("Understanding Beverage Container Recycling:  A Value Chain Assessment Prepared for the Multi-Stakeholder Recovery Project (MSRP), Stage 1," Businesses and Environmentalists Allied for Recycling (BEAR), a project of Global Green USA, Jan. 16, 2002, Table ES-1).   And, because the majority of curbside programs in Vermont allow for all recyclables to be collected in the same container, those containers that are being collected at curbside are more contaminated and of a lower quality for reuse than the containers that are collected by retailers and redemption centers under the Bottle Bill.  This means that fewer containers will be able to be reused in the production of new containers, thereby necessitating the extraction of a higher number of virgin resources and more energy than under the Bottle Bill.  More virgin resources and more energy mean more greenhouse gas emissions than would otherwise be required.  (For more information on how recycling beverage containers benefits the environment and lowers greenhouse gas emissions, click here).

Take ACTION!   Tell your legislator that you do NOT support H.696 (VEPRA)

H.735:  An Act to Impose a Flat Fee on Beverage Containers

This bill would repeal the Vermont Bottle Bill and replace it with a flat fee on beverage containers.

Summary of the Legislation:  In place of the current 5-cent or 15-cent deposit on beverage containers, H.735 would impose a 1/2-cent fee on all beverage containers.  The bill expands the definition of "beverage containers" to include water and juice containers, in addition to the currently covered containers of beer, soda, liquor, and mixed wine drinks.  The 1/2-cent fee would last for the first year and then be replaced by a 1/4-cent fee for the second year, which would then be replaced by a 1/8-cent fee for the third year. 

The fees would be deposited into the Waste Management Assistance Fund for the purpose of funding a "recycling and reuse assistance account" that would provide for the collection and recycling of beverage containers by solid waste districts.  Starting October 2010, manufacturers and distributors would no longer be required to pick up beverage containers from retailers or redemption centers.

In addition, the bill would impose a temporary 1-cent fee on every beverage container sold for three years.  That money would go in the Unemployment Compensation Fund.  

Sponsors:  Representatives Ronald Hubert and Donald Milton.

Status:  Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. Died in 2010.

Why We Oppose:  This bill takes away the current incentives to recycle that have made Vermont's Bottle Bill a success.  It also fails to hold manufacturers accountable for the products they place into the marketplace.  The result would be a system composed entirely of curbside recycling which, as discussed in the reasons why we oppose H.696 (VEPRA) above, would reduce recycling rates and hinder the ability to reuse the containers that are recycled.  Finally, this bill's provisions end after only three years. 

Take ACTION!  Tell your legislator that you do NOT support H.735 (flat fee)