Rep. Allison Hepler. Photo courtesy of Allison Hepler
Just over a year ago, I received a call from the head of the Georgetown Transfer Station with a plea for help. The owner of the Brunswick redemption center who had been picking up bottles from the transfer station was losing the lease on his building, and he couldn’t afford to pay his workers.
Unlike many other business owners, he couldn’t simply pass along increased costs to customers due to the structure of Maine’s Beverage Container Redemption Program, also known as the Bottle Bill.
The Bottle Bill is Maine’s most successful recycling program, leading to an estimated 75% redemption rate statewide. For years, Mainers have enjoyed redeeming their bottles for either 5 cents or 15 cents – depending on the type of bottle – but last year, the program’s shortcomings were approaching a crisis. Redemption centers were closing, Clynk was overwhelmed, and the reverse vending machines used in some stores couldn’t keep up with maintenance.
I heard from many of you about these issues. This began a dive into the most challenging policy issue I have faced: overhauling and modernizing this popular program. The result, LD 1909, was enacted by the Legislature and signed into law earlier this year. I am proud to say that it will help increase the redemption rate, ensure convenience for consumers, allow redemption centers to remain viable small businesses and provide more certainty for beverage manufacturers, including Maine’s craft brewing industry.
Drafting this legislation was not an easy task. It required collaboration from various stakeholders, including beverage manufacturers and distributors, redemption centers, bulk processors like Clynk and Tomra, craft brewers, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and environmental organizations. We held countless meetings and exchanged many emails, texts and phone calls. But this work was worth it. Following passionate exchanges in public sessions, the bill received bipartisan support and a unanimous vote from the Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
So, what will change? One important provision is a handling fee increase for redemption centers. In addition to the 5-cent deposit, redemption centers were paid 4.5 cents per container by distributors and manufacturers to handle bottle and cans, which was insufficient to keep up with the increased costs to run their small businesses, many of which work with nonprofits in local fundraising efforts. To address this, the Legislature approved an immediate 1-cent increase followed by an additional 0.5-cent increase, which just went into effect on Sept. 1.
However, the most significant change that redemption centers will see is a reduction in the number of sorts they must perform. The proliferation of new products in Maine has led to an explosion of work for sorting bottles by manufacturer. While some of the larger producers allow their material to be commingled, 20% of everything sold currently needs to be sorted by manufacturer, requiring about 300 individual sorts.
The new law will eventually reduce the sorts to material type – glass, plastic and aluminum – in order to be recycled. It will be up to manufacturers and distributors to collaborate to determine what percentage of material belongs to them. This will be done by requiring all Maine beverage producers to commingle and eventually form a commingling cooperative. This cooperative will run the system, organizing pick-ups and overseeing a website with up-to-date information for consumers and tourists.
Additionally, DEP will receive more funding and staff to increase enforcement activities and follow up on fraud allegations. It will develop a fund for stakeholders who would like to invest in redemption-related technology. And it will explore developing a reuse system in Maine. Remember when we could return bottles to be refilled? This would again allow us to make a major impact on further reducing waste. The department will also develop a convenience standard, a metric to maintain ready access to bottle redemption for Mainers across the state.
And finally, how is this all paid for? Currently, manufacturers and distributors who already commingle get to keep the deposits that are never redeemed. Those who don’t must remit those unredeemed deposits to the state. Now, everyone will be required to place the several million dollars of unredeemed deposits – or the escheat – into a separate account, which will fund all the elements of the new law. It also provides accountability for the program.
Since its creation in 1978, Mainers have been proud of the Bottle Bill – one of the oldest programs of its kind in the nation. These changes will ensure its success for years to come, playing a significant role in our efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle. And thanks to this legislation, this phrase will also one day include the word “refill.”
Rep. Allison Hepler, D-Woolwich, represents District 49 in the Maine House, which includes the towns of Arrowsic, Georgetown, Phippsburg, West Bath and Woolwich.
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