Recycling In the News

SALEM -- Oregonians will have to shell out a nickel deposit on every bottle of water they buy, beginning Jan. 1, 2009, as part of the first major revision in 36 years of Oregon's landmark bottle bill law.

Legislation that adds water bottles to carbonated soft drink and beer containers requiring a nickel redeemable deposit sailed through the House on Thursday on a 42-16 vote.

The Senate has already endorsed Senate Bill 707 but must agree on minor amendments before the bill moves to the governor for his promised signature.

Democrats -- and Republican Rep. Vicki Berger -- celebrated Thursday's vote as one of the most significant achievements of the 2007 session.

Raising a bottle of water as she began debate, Berger asked: "Who would have envisioned in 1971 that Oregonians would have embraced this product?

"These bottles are everywhere. The numbers are staggering and increasing at a staggering rate," said Berger, whose father is widely credited as coming up with the idea that became Oregon's bottle bill.

More than 180 million bottles of water are sold in Oregon each year, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality. About a third of those bottles are recycled, and the rest -- an estimated 125 million bottles -- end up as litter or in the garbage.

One issue in the bill was defining water. As passed by the House, the law covers any drink with water on the front label but not all drinks with water as an ingredient, such as juice or tea.

Ten other states adopted container laws after Oregon became the first in the nation to pass its bottle bill in 1971.

Since then, lawmakers have talked about updating Oregon's law by adding other beverage containers, such as tea or juice. Some have proposed raising the nickel deposit, which took effect in 1972 and would be a quarter if it had been adjusted for inflation.

As he toted four plastic garbage bags full of bottles and cans back to his neighborhood grocery store earlier this week, Richard Hodges said he is disappointed that state lawmakers didn't do more to overhaul the bottle bill when they had the chance.

"Your normal, everyday person just isn't going to want to hassle with this," said Hodges, 55, who lives in Portland and returns bottles and cans about twice a month.

With five children -- two soon in college -- Hodges said returning bottles helps raise a little extra spending money in addition to what he earns working as a custodian.

Feeding his cans and bottles into grinding machines that occasionally kicked out damaged or unacceptable containers, Hodges said it would be easier if humans did the counting.

Lawmakers also ought to be talking about adding more than just water bottles, he said.

And, as he cashed in receipts giving him $6.60 for his morning's effort, Hodges said the redeemable deposit ought to be "at least 20 cents."

During Thursday's House debate, Rep. Jackie Dingfelder, a Portland Democrat and chair of the House Environment and Energy Committee, acknowledged that Oregon's law needs more discussion.

In addition to requiring a nickel deposit on water bottles, she said the bill creates a task force to make recommendations prior to the 2009 legislative session.

But a grocers' lobbyist argued Thursday that a task force would be a "waste of time."

"Every task force that has been put together on this issue is a gridlock," said Joe Gilliam, president of the Northwest Grocery Association.

Grocers do not want to see more beverage or other containers brought under Oregon's bottle bill as long as they have to handle the empties in their stores. It's both a hygiene and a storage problem, they say.

Instead, the grocers' are pushing for a plan they brought to the Capitol a few weeks ago. It proposes redemption centers -- outside of grocery stores -- where Oregonians could drop off beverage containers, batteries, plastic bags and even electronic devices.

Gilliam's brother, Rep. Vic Gilliam, R-Silverton, tried Thursday to move the bill back to committee so the grocers' plan could be considered. But his motion failed.

If water bottles are added to Oregon's bottle bill law as widely expected, Gilliam said grocers are committed to turning their redemption center plan into an initiative for the November 2008 ballot.

"What they've done (with this bill) won't work for the consumers or retailers," he said.

Before the session began, environmental advocates also had hoped lawmakers would do more than add water bottles to the redemption law. But they had no complaints after Thursday's vote.

"Environmentalists have been working for three decades to add more beverage containers to the bottle bill," said Jeremiah Baumann, lobbyist for Environment Oregon. "This is a big deal."

Michelle Cole: 503-294-5143; michellecole@news.oregonian.com