A key committee in the Connecticut General Assembly has approved a bill that would raise the deposit fee for recyclable bottles from five to ten cents.
The bill would also expand the type of beverages that require a deposit fee to include juice, tea and energy drinks.
The extra money from the deposit would go toward redemption centers that handle recycling.
Jennifer Heaton Jones is with the Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority, which handles recycling for 11 towns in western Connecticut.
“What it does is create an enclosed loop system. So when you consume it you have an incentive to recycle it. Not throw it away, not throw it out your window while you’re driving. It has a value, a bounty on it...We support the increase in the handling fee so that we can make sure that the redemption centers stay alive. So that we have a place for this material to go to. Without redemption centers, the system doesn’t work.”
The bill passed the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. Critics say the bill would hurt sales. It now goes to the state House floor.
