Town officials say they support Governor Ned Lamont’s proposal to expand Connecticut’s 5 cent bottle deposit law. It would include wine, liquor and juices, instead of just beer, water and carbonated soft drinks.
Jennifer Heaton-Jones is executive director of Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority, the regional solid waste recycling agency that serves 11 southwestern Connecticut towns. Speaking Tuesday before the General Assembly’s Environment Committee, Heaton-Jones told lawmakers that a 5 cent bottle redemption on liquor and wine bottles would eliminate them from the recycling stream and save towns money on disposal fees.
“It’s 20 percent of our recycling stream. It’s a huge, heavy lift. By utilizing a system that’s already put in place that’s effective, I believe it would work. That is the solution.”
Heaton-Jones says residents would benefit from an incentive to return all beverage bottles.
It now costs municipalities more to recycle because Chinese importers have reduced the amount of recycling they buy.
