THE House Committee on Natural Resources adopted a substitute version of House Bill 23-18 or the Beverage Container Act of 2023 on Tuesday.
Introduced by Rep. Manny Gregory T. Castro, the bill aims to “reduce the CNMI’s growing litter problem and to conserve resources by accepting beverage containers for refund value and providing penalties.”
The bill would “shift the cost of litter cleanup, recycling, and waste disposal to producers and consumers of beverage containers.”
Under the proposed law, consumers may take beverage containers to approved vendors in order to redeem a five-cent refund.
House Bill 23-18 defines “beverage containers” as “the individual, separate, sealed glass, metal or plastic bottle, can, jar or carton containing a beverage.”
The committee said it will also solicit comments from the Department of Public Works, the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality, the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, and the Marianas Visitors Authority before presenting the bill to the full House of Representatives.
Members of the House Committee on Natural Resources met Tuesday to support House Bill 23-18 or the Beverage Container Act of 2023.
