Day 1 (16 Days to go): Let’s Update the Bottle Bill

Election Day is 16 days away. Over that time, we’ll be unveiling 16 reasons to reelect Tom Sannicandro on Nov. 6 as state representative.

Day 1 (16 Days to go): Let’s Update the Bottle Bill

The Updated Bottle Bill expands a 0.05 cent bottle deposit to include bottled water, iced tea, and other non-carbonated sports drinks that have grown in popularity since the original bottle bill was passed in 1983.

The bottle bill is one of the most successful and popular bills we’ve passed in Massachusetts.

According to the Massachusetts Sierra Club, the recycling rate of non-deposit containers is 22 percent, while containers with a deposit, like Coke and Pepsi, are recycled at an 80 percent rate.

Expanding the bottle bill to include drinks that were not around in 1983 would be furthering a program proven to work. It is a common sense approach.

MassDEP has concluded that an expansion of the bottle bill would save municipalities between $4.2 and $6.9 million annually in litter abatement, avoided collection, and disposal/recycling costs.

A January 2011 poll by MassINC showed that 77 percent of respondents supported expanding the bottle bill. In Boston and its inner suburbs, respondents backed it at an 83 percent clip. Even respondents in the least popular region, Boston’s outer suburbs, backed the proposal at a 68 percent rate.

The Updated Bottle Bill has bipartisan support. A Republican Senator submitted the Updated Bottle Bill as an amendment to the 2012 Jobs Bill, however it was removed later in the process.

If Tom is reelected as state representative, he will push to support a pro-environment agenda, which includes updating the bottle bill.