HONOLULU (Pacnews) — Hawaii has become the 11th American state to pass beverage container deposit legislation.
This has made Hawaii the first state to enact a so-called bottle bill in 20 years.
The $.5-cent beverage container deposit bill will help Hawaii address its shrinking landfill space, create recycling jobs, and reduce bottle and can litter from beaches and roadways.
Hawaii uses about 800 million beverage containers each year. About 20 percent of those containers are now recycled statewide.
A recent national survey, co-sponsored by the beverage industry, found that states with bottle bills recover 80 percent of their beverage container waste. Studies also show that states with bottle bills witnessed a 60 to 80 percent decrease in beverage container litter after enactment of the measures.
Hawaii’s bottle bill will place a nickel deposit on all glass, plastic and aluminum beverage containers, which the consumer can recoup by bringing the empty container back for recycling. Redemption centers and retail stores over a certain size would be required to accept the recyclable bottles and cans.
“Bottle bills work,” continued Jeff Mikulina, director of the Sierra Club Hawaii chapter. “They provide a real incentive for people to recycle and an incentive not to litter. The 10 states with bottle bills found that bottle and can litter have virtually disappeared. With the bottle bill, we will not only reduce the pressure on our landfills, but we will also improve the safety of our beaches and protect our ocean ecosystem.”
Over the past 20 years, beverage industry opponents have spent tens of millions on defeating bottle bills around the country, out spending proponents by as much as 30 to one, the Sierra Club charges. In 1996, $3 million was spent to defeat a bottle bill expansion initiative in Oregon.
