"Updated bottle law pushed as way to cut litter; Adding water to redeemable list would cut litter, advocates say" by David Abel | Globe Staff, July 25, 2012
It’s an ironic routine that plays out nearly every day on streets throughout the state, in which a law designed to reduce litter ends up producing it.
Nothing humorous about Massachusetts government because this happens all the time with any law they pass.
Because the state’s bottle law has not been updated in more than 30 years to allow noncarbonated beverages to be redeemed for a nickel, as it allows for soda, beer, and malt beverages, the legion of trash pickers who make their rounds to collect bottles and cans often toss the bottled water, Gatorade, and other containers not covered by the law into the street.
Advocates for an expanded bottle law, which passed the state Senate last week after 18 years of being proposed, argue that it would reduce litter and provide thousands of poor residents a means of increasing their income, as water, juice, and sports drinks now account for more than a third of all beverages sold in Massachusetts.
What, no bailout or corporate welfare for them?
“There are a lot of people who supplement their income by picking up empty containers, and if the containers that don’t have a deposit are included, they’ll pick those up as well, which will benefit them as well as reduce litter,” said Phil Sego, a spokesman for Massachusetts Sierra Club. “It’s an unintended benefit.”
UNREAL ATTITUDE!
The bill, which passed as an amendment to economic development legislation, faces an uncertain fate. It will be debated in the coming days by a conference committee of six lawmakers from the House and Senate.
Among them will be Representative Joseph F. Wagner, a Chicopee Democrat who chairs the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies and vigorously opposes expanding the bottle law.
“In my opinion, it would be viewed as a tax, even if it wouldn’t fit the definition of a tax,” he said, also taking issue with how the amendment passed the Senate by voice vote and without debate....
On the streets this week, those who earn a living or pocket money from collecting cans and bottles said they would see a significant boost to their income if they could redeem water bottles and other container....
“It would mean a lot,” said Peter Pirtron, 50, while making the rounds going through trash and recycling bins in South Boston and loading soda cans and beer bottles in a cart. “I could really live good . . . board money, shopping, maybe look for a girlfriend.”
It's an American scandal.
Related: The Boston Globe Dines on Garbage
No wonder I feel sick after reading their elitist insults.
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At the East Boston Bottle & Can Return, Steven Tran, the owner, said updating the bottle law would have a huge benefit for his business, which has floundered in recent years like many of the state’s redemption centers.
Since 1995, as the value of the nickel has fallen, the number of such facilities has plummeted by more than half, and during the same period, the redemption of cans and bottles has slid from 87 percent of eligible containers to about 68 percent last year.
Redemption centers, which have not had an increase since 1990 in the 2.25-cent fee distributors must pay them for every bottle returned, would get an additional penny a bottle if the bill becomes law....
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"A measure to expand the state’s bottle bill to require customers to pay bottle deposits on juice, water, and sports drinks was cut from the bill.
Proponents have said it would reduce litter and provide thousands of poor residents a way to make money by collecting bottles. Opponents have said they would view it as a type of tax increase.
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Also see: A Taste of Taxachusetts
Massachusetts' New Nickel Tax
The machine keeps spitting it out!
