State To Begin Bottled Water Deposit on October 22nd

Following a ruling by a Federal Court Judge that New York can implement its new bottle deposit scheme without the unconstitutional New York only bar code provision, the state has decided that it will begin the program on October 22nd.  On this date there will be a 5 cent deposit on all non-carbonated single serve beverage containers (think bottled water, juice, etc.), just as there currently is on carbonated soft drinks and beer.  Then when one is done with the container they can recycle it to get the deposit back, making it theoretically revenue neutral.  Since a lot of people still don't recycle even when there is an economic incentive to do so, the State will keep 80% of unclaimed deposits to put towards environmental protection and the other 20% will go toward the bottlers themselves.  Currently all of the unclaimed deposits go to the bottlers.

The current bottle bill, which has been in place 26 years, has been a tremendous success, for it has raised recycling rates higher than they would have gone with education alone.  The most important thing that it has done is create a culture of recycling, for people who don't care at all about sustainability take their bottles back to the store for the deposit because there is an economic incentive.  Thus, by increasing the amount of single serve containers that have a deposit, we are adding onto this culture and increasing our recycling rates further, without a major new program or lifestyle change.

The bill will also give the State new revenue for other environmental initiatives to promote sustainability, thus making it a win-win solution.  Economically, individuals do not have to pay more for the program because they are able to get their deposits back by recycling.  The state, meanwhile, gains more revenue for environmental programs due to some one's choice not to recycle, not by forcibly taking money from them through taxes.  Thus, this program will  allow the people to continue to chose whether or not they want to recycle, but if they chose not to partake in an activity that benefits society as a whole, they make up for it through the State spending that money on other sustainability programs.

My hope is that the State will unveil more innovative programs such as this that will help move us towards a more sustainable future, without directly taxing us to do so.  It also allows individuals to make the decision whether or not they are going to take a step towards a more sustainable future, but if they don't, they still end up paying the societal costs of having this recyclable item sent to a landfill.