Change in Bottle Bill but not for customers
Fri, 01/20/2023 - 3:57pm
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CRESCO - As of Jan. 1, 2023, the Bottle Bill that was passed on June 17, 2022 fully came into law.
In Howard County, most, if not all, convenience stores do not accept cans/bottles, as well as other stores that sell carbonated beverages.
The new refund value for the cans changed as of Jan. 1. This only affects redemption centers.
Marty Steenhard of The Can House in Cresco explained, “Nothing is changing. Customers will still get 4¢ per can, unless they are presorted. Then they get 5¢.” The difference of 1¢ was to pay for the service of sorting.
What has changed is the amount of money redemption centers will receive for collecting the cans and bottles.
Since the original Bottle Bill was made into law in 1979, beverage companies have paid the redemption centers 1¢ per container. After over 43 years, rates just raised to 3¢, which is a long overdue increase for business owners and their employees.
Bill Caffrey of The Can House noted the reason the rate was increased was because there are more and more redemption centers closing. He estimates there were 300 centers in 1979, and now there are only about 100.
He said another problem for redemption centers is to find a distributor to take the many off-brand containers, such as private labels (microbreweries and store brands).
He added, “Right now, we will keep doing business as in the past. It will be our employees who benefit from the increase.”
History
The Bottle Bill was first implemented to help with litter control. It worked. In the beginning, the return rate was at 86%.
By 2016, it is estimated Iowans recycle about 1.5 billion bottles and cans, which is about 71% of all deposit beverages sold.
Some facts from the Container Recycling Institute:
• Enough aluminum was saved to build more than 11,000 Boeing 737 MAX airplanes or;
• Saved enough energy to power 900,000 Iowa homes for a year or;
• Reduced greenhouse gases equivalent to taking one million cars off the road for one year and;
• Saved about $150 million in litter clean-up costs and avoided injuries over 40 years.