Lawmakers on a Connecticut environment committee will look to reduce the state’s waste system by updating a 40-year-old bottle redemption program.
Ten states operate bottle redemption programs, and Connecticut’s rate of returns is lowest at 50%.
The "bottle bill" has residents pay a five-cent deposit on bottles of water, beer and soda. They can get that money back if they return the bottle to a redemption center. Lawmakers may choose to increase the deposit to 10-cents to increase the redemption rate of bottles in the state.
Rick Ross is the owner of Redemption Centers of America in West Haven.
“Modernizing the bottle bill will lead to significant increase in recycling and decrease in costs across the state.”
Connecticut’s environmental chief, Katie Dykes, says the state should raise its five-cent deposit on bottled recyclables.
She told lawmakers on the state environmental committee this week that a 10-cent deposit would help get more bottles returned and removed from the state landfills.
“If you increase it to higher rate like 10 cents, we know that in states that have a higher redemption value like Oregon and Michigan, they have much high redemption rate in the order of 80-85%,” Dykes said.
