What's New
Connecticut’s Bottle Bill is one of the most successful
environmental preservation laws on the books. When it was enacted in
1978, it applied a 5-cent deposit on all carbonated beverage containers
to encourage recycling and reduce litter. As a result, Connecticut now
recycles as many as twice the number of bottles and cans as states
without Bottle Bills.
Environment Connecticut is working to update the Bottle Bill to
include water, juices, sports drinks and similar non-carbonated
beverages. The updated Bottle Bill would also use unclaimed deposits to
fund increased recycling programs in Connecticut’s communities.
How You Can Help
Please ask your state Representative to support SB 1289, the updated Bottle Bill.
Brief Summary
Connecticut’s Bottle Bill is one of the most successful environmental
preservation laws on the books. Before it was enacted in 1978, millions
of bottles and cans littered the state’s beaches, parks and roadways.
Millions more were thrown into landfills. Today, over 1.1 billion
bottles and cans are redeemed for deposit each year in Connecticut.
According to the Department of Environmental Protection, Connecticut
and other states with Bottle Bills have much higher container recycling
rates than non-bottle bill states.
The 1.1 billion bottles and
cans redeemed each year in Connecticut under the Bottle Bill is a great
start. But in the nearly 30 years since the Bottle Bill was enacted,
non-carbonated beverages such as water and sports drinks have become
far more popular. These beverage containers don’t have a deposit, and
as a result, are not recycled as frequently as carbonated beverage
containers. That’s why it’s time to bring the Bottle Bill into the 21st
century by updating it to include non-carbonated beverages. This single
step could result in over 300 million additional bottles and cans being
redeemed for deposit and recycling each year.
Of course,
bottles and cans are not the only materials that should be recycled in
Connecticut. The state has set an ambitious goal of recycling over 50
percent of all municipal waste. Unfortunately, in recent years our
recycling rates have not improved significantly, and many other states
in the nation are doing a much better job of recycling. A big part of
the problem has been a lack of funding for state and municipal
recycling programs. An updated Bottle Bill can help provide support for
expansion of recycling efforts in Connecticut.
