6 th Annual Potomac Watershed Trash Summit Washington, DC Beverage Container Recycling Susan V. Collins Container Recycling Institute October 19, 2011 Container Recycling Institute: Striving to make North America a global model for the collection and quality recycling of packaging materials.
Beverage Litter is Preventable!
Fig 2. Per Capita Beverage Sales, Recycling & Wasting, 1970-2006 800 700 600 500 Sold Wasted Recycled 400 300 200 100 0 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Container Recycling Institute, 2008.
PET Bottle Sales and Wasting in the U.S., 1991 2009 3000 2500 (thousand tons) 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Sold Wasted
U.S. Access to Curbside Recycling vs. Recycling Rates for 3 Container Types, 1990 2002 100% 100% Recycling Rates 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 0% 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Aluminum can recycling rate PET recycling rate Glass recycling rate U.S. Curbside Access % of U.S. Population with Curbside Access Container Recycling Institute, 2006
Solution: Place a mandatory deposit on beverage containers to provide an incentive to recycle and a disincentive to litter. Container Recycling Institute 2009 6
Why Beverage Containers? Consumed on the go! (Industry estimates that one third of all soft drinks sold are consumed away from home!) Comprise significant volume in the waste stream. Consume large amounts of energy in the manufacturing process. Significant greenhouse gas emissions can be avoided by recycling beverage containers rather than manufacturing new ones. Container Recycling Institute 2009 7
What is a Bottle Bill? Requires distributors and retailers to collect a minimum refundable deposit, usually 5 10 cents on certain beverage containers Creates a privately funded collection infrastructure for beverage containers Makes producers and consumers responsible for their packaging waste Container Recycling Institute 2009 8
How do Container Deposits Work? Distributor collects deposit when he/she delivers containers to retailer Retailer collects deposit from consumer at point of purchase Deposit is refunded to consumer when container is returned Deposit is refunded to retailer when containers are returned to distributor Container Recycling Institute 2009 9
50% of all beverage containers recycled in the U.S. come from these 10 states U.S. States with Container Deposit Laws Container Recycling Institute 2010 10
Canadian Provinces with CDL Quebec British Columbia Newfoundland Nova Scotia Ontario Alberta New Brunswick Saskatchewan Prince Edward Island Yukon Container Recycling Institute 2010 11
Worldwide Trend Toward New and Expanded Beverage Container Deposit Laws (Since 2000) Total of 45 programs worldwide NEW! Germany, Hawaii, the Northern Territory of Australia, Guam, Estonia, Croatia, Fiji and Turks and Caicos Now 6 states have expanded laws (CA, OR, HI, CT, NY and ME) OR, NY and CT Expanded in 2009 (water) Ontario expanded in 2007 (wine, liquor); Alberta added milk in 2009
Container Deposit Return Programs Result in Higher Beverage Container Recycling Rates 80.0% Average Beverage Container Recycling Rates (By Weight) 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% Aluminum cans PET plastic bottles Glass bottles Total, 3 materials 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% 11 deposit states 39 non deposit states Source: CRI s 2008 Beverage Market Data Analysis (using 2006 data) Container Recycling Institute 2009 13
Recovery Rates California: 82% (includes curbside) OR: 84% for deposit containers; 37% for non deposit containers (2005) HI: 76% for 2010/11 Range from 67% in NY (2007) to 97% in MI (10 cent deposit)
Bumps in the Road Industry myths about recycling and bottle bills Special interest lobbying Cross border fraud Hauling industry desire to collect valuable beverage container materials to offset their costs Container Recycling Institute 2009 15
Increase costs to distributors and retailers Increase beverage prices and lower beverage sales Only address a small fraction of the waste stream or litter stream Decrease jobs Are not compatible with curbside recycling Are inconvenient for consumers Container Recycling Institute 2009 16
Their Arguments are Unfounded! Cost increases can be recouped in minimal price increases that consumers barely notice, and gladly pay for their favorite beverages. CDL is effective for beverage containers because of litter and away from home use. It only addresses this portion of the waste stream because it only targets this portion. CDL and curbside collection are compatible, because CDL targets away from home recyclables. Consumers quickly become accustomed to returning their empties, and enjoy getting refunds. Container Recycling Institute 2009 17
State Bottle Bills Reduce Litter Beverage Container Litter Reduced Total Litter Reduced NY 70-80% 30% OR 83% 47% VT 76% 35% ME 69-77% 35-56% MI 80% 38% IA 77% 38% Source: Trade-offs Involved in Beverage Container Deposit Legislation, US GAO, 1990. Container Recycling Institute 2009 18
18 16 14 12 2005: Hawaii s CDL program introduced Percentage 10 8 6 4 2 0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Source: Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup, 2003 2010
18 16 14 12 2008: 60% reduction three years after implementation! Percentage 10 8 6 4 2 0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Lessons Learned: What went wrong? Narrow scope: glass and plastic for soda and beer (Ignored 81% of the beverage waste stream). External Support: Weak curbside recycling access. Lax Enforcement: Stores literally refused to accept containers, and some containers weren t actually recycled. Result: Ineffective policy that was set up to fail!
Bottle Bills Decrease Taxpayer Burden it (the Returnable Container Act RCA) has internalized the cost of solid waste management for beverage containers covered by the RCA Therefore the taxpayer does not have to subsidize the disposal of empty beverage containers. Then Governor of New York George Pataki Container Recycling Institute 2009 22
Cost Savings for Municipalities SAVINGS ON: Collection costs for recyclables Processing costs for recyclables Collection costs for disposal Landfill tipping fees Litter collection pick up costs Collection from public litter bins Storm drain (or waterway) cleanup costs Monetization of environmental benefits REVENUE LOST: Sale of recyclables (scrap value)
In 2002 the BEAR multi stakeholder group agreed that CDL is cost effective The 10 bottle bill states recycle 490 containers per capita per year, at a cost of 1.53 cents per unit. The 40 non bottle bill states recycle 191 containers per capita per year, at a cost of 1.24 cents per unit. Thus, for a minimal price increase, more than two and a half times as many containers are recovered! Note: the 11th bottle bill state, Hawaii implemented their law in 2005 Container Recycling Institute 2009 24
Container Deposits are Pennywise! Hawaii, 1 cent California, 7/10 of a cent To oppose them is pound (or ton) foolish!
Just type in: Container Recycling Institute! Visit us at www. container recycling.org www.bottlebill.org (310) 559 7451
Source: USEPA
ALUMINUM ALLIES Aluminum Association: Goal of 75% by 2015 Container deposit programs are a proven, Can Do! sustainable method of capturing beverage cans for recycling. States that have deposit programs have the highest can recycling rates, on average at 74% or higher, while the recycling rate in non deposit states is around 38%. (November, 2008)
Glass Roots Support Glass Packaging Institute: Goal to use 50% recycled glass by 2015 Glass manufacturers will continue to work with policymakers to improve and expand state beverage deposit programs. (December, 2008)
Plastics Proponents Association of Post Consumer Plastics Recyclers (APR) Supports the expansion of existing deposit programs Opposes efforts to repeal container deposit programs
Cost to Recycle in Ontario, Canada (by category, per ton) Polystyrene $2,257 PET Bottles $1,000 HDPE Bottles $685 ($532) Aluminum Old Corrugated Containers $404 Steel $149 Glass Average $135 Other Print $61 Newspaper/Mags $19 ($1,000) ($500) $0 $500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $2,500 Cost to Recycle Per Ton