May 2003 Newsletter
Bottle Bill Legislation Near and Far
SB 867: Electronics Product Stewardship Update
2003 Environmental Handbook Now Available
Composter Update
New MetroPaint Colors
Come All Recycling Advocates!
Do You Have Earth Share of Oregon at Your Workplace?
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Bottle Bill Legislation Near and Far
Bottle bills remain contentious in statehouses
This year has seen a flurry of bottle bills in state legislatures throughout the country. Nationally, expansions of existing bottle bills in New York and Massachusetts have received much attention. As reported last month, some legislators are seeing the potential fiscal benefits of bottle bills in a time of rising state budget deficits. Bottle bill advocates, the beverage industry, and politicians in Hawaii are in a battle over that state's new bottle bill, which the governor is seeking to repeal.
Here in Oregon, House Bill 3021 has made significant progress. Representatives Vicki Berger and Jackie Dingfelder introduced the bill in March. The proposed statute would require beverage dealers and distributors to report to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission annually the number of aluminum, glass and plastic containers sold, collected and redeemed. The bill would reveal the amount, or "escheat," that the beverage industry is taking in during a single year from unredeemed deposits. The Association of Oregon Recyclers reports that current estimates of the escheat range from $1 million to $12 million per year.
In its initial wording, HB 3021 would require the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to compile the records and report the findings to the Legislative Assembly. The report would cover redemption rates, estimated salvage value, numbers and types of containers redeemed by dealers and distributors, dollar amounts of deposits, and the dollar amounts of over-redemption and under-redemption of containers by dealers and distributors.
Bottle bill advocates and legislators have fought battles before to pass similar legislation in the past, but this year may be different. With chronic budget crises and cuts to services, HB 3021 may pass. The House held a public hearing on April 8. A week later the bill passed out of committee with amendments that excluded distributors from the reporting requirement. Alex Cuyler, chairperson of the Association of Oregon Recyclers, testified along with other supporters of the bill. After the hearing, Cuyler said, "Directing unredeemed deposit money to the State of Oregon is a key element missing from our bottle bill. Almost every state that has followed Oregon's lead in developing a bottle bill has fixed this loophole. It is now time for Oregon to follow their lead. The passage of HB3021 will provide a definitive answer to how much money is being generated by those deposit containers that are landfilled, incinerated, or recycled through curbside collection."
At the time of editing this newsletter, HB 3021 is still in play, albeit weakened. If successful, the legislation could be a first step in setting the stage for future legislation to revert all unclaimed deposits to the state.
Looking beyond Oregon
Over fifty proposed measures that introduce, expand, or repeal bottle deposit statutes have been introduced in state legislatures. For example:
• In June 2002, Hawaii's governor signed into law a bottle bill that establishes a refundable 5-cent deposit on a wide range of beverage containers. Unclaimed deposits may be used for such activities as conducting recycling education, promoting recyclable market development activities, and supporting the establishment of redemption centers. Hawaii's new bottle bill appeared in danger of repeal earlier this year, but now the publication Resource Recycling notes that the bill is likely to be retained. No repeal measure made it out of committee by the deadline for bills approved by one house to be sent over to the other legislative body. Without a repeal, Hawaii's deposit statute is on track to go into effect in 2005.
• In Massachusetts, a Boston Globe editorial from March 11 called for an expansion of the Bay State's existing bottle bill to cover juice, water, tea, wine, and liquor containers. Governor Romney has proposed such an expansion. Officials estimate the bill would bring in as much as $15 million in new unclaimed deposits for state use. Unlike in Oregon, unredeemed deposits (escheat) revert to the state in Massachusetts.
• A swarm of bottle bills have been under debate in the New York state Assembly and Senate. Many of the bills expand the existing bottle bill to cover all carbonated and non-carbonated drinks excluding milk, wine, and liquor. Some of the bills call for the recapture of unclaimed deposits. A recent New York Times editorial noted that the state could receive at least $135 million in unredeemed deposits should such a bill make it through the legislature and obtain the governor's signature. The editorial also sharply criticized legislators and Governor Pataki for taking beverage industry contributions and not supporting measures to expand New York's existing bottle bill.
Opponents to the expansion of bottle bills say that it would harm curbside recycling. Pat Franklin of the Container Recycling Institute (CRI) counters that the expansion would actually augment existing curbside programs. Additionally, CRI notes that curbside cannot, and indeed has not, by itself done an adequate job of maintaining high recycling rates. Despite a tripling in curbside recycling access in the United States during the 1990's (from about 2,700 municipal collection programs to almost 10,000), recycling rates for all three major beverage container materials have declined, and wasting has increased. The aluminum can recycling rate has declined from a high of 65% in 1992 to 49% in 2001: the lowest point in 15 years. Glass and plastic bottle recycling now stand below 30%. An estimated 120 billion beverage containers were landfilled, incinerated or littered in 2001 - up from 70 billion a decade ago. Curbside recycling is failing to keep pace with increased beverage sales primarily due to an "immediate consumption" trend whereby consumers drink beverages on the go and away from home or office recycling bins.
According to the CRI, Hawaii became the first state to adopt a new beverage deposit law in 16 years. Ten states have existing beverage deposit laws: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont.
For more on bottle bills, visit www.bottlebill.org. The Container Recycling Institute's web site is www.container-recycling.org.
SB 867: Electronics Product Stewardship Update
This bill had a hearing in the Senate General Government Committee on April 9. Many folks representing a diversity of stakeholder groups came to testify in favor of the bill. The committee held a work session on April 23, at which time several suggested amendments were adopted. While the amendments change the content, the core principles and purpose of the bill are still intact. When available, the revised bill will be posted at: www.leg.state.or.us/bills_pdf.htm.
If the bill does go directly to the Senate floor for a vote and is approved, it will then move on to the House where the process repeats itself. A deadline is approaching by which all bills must have been heard in committee if they are to stay in the system.
2003 Environmental Handbook Now Available
A reference for critical environmental issues facing Oregon today
The Oregon League of Conservation Voters Education Fund released its 2003 Environmental Handbook in April. Recycling Advocates volunteers helped update and edit the chapter on recycling and waste prevention. While targeted at state legislators, the Handbook also provides environmentalists with a key reference source.
The publication is available online at www.olcveducationfund.org. The OLCV also sells the hard copy version for $8.00 by mail and $7.00 if picked up in person. For more information on the OLCV, its programs, and how to use the political process to advance environmental issues, call (503) 227-8073.
Clopyralid use limited in Oregon
On March 28, 2003, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) enacted temporary rules that immediately limit where pesticide products containing the active ingredient clopyralid may be applied. The temporary rule states: "Any application or use of a pesticide product known to contain the active ingredient clopyralid to a location other than an agricultural site, forest site, right-of way site, golf course site, or non-turf area of a park or recreation site is prohibited. Regardless of application or use sites specified on individual product labels, no application or use may be made to lawn or turf areas such as residential lawns, commercial and public turf plantings, school grounds, parks, cemeteries or recreational areas other than golf courses."
Clopyralid, frequently used on residential lawns, is a herbicide manufactured by Dow Agro-Sciences and designed to kill broadleaf weeds such as clover, thistle, and dandelion. It is very slow to break down during the composting process. Clopyralid can damage sensitive plants such as tomatoes, beans, peas, eggplant, parsley, potatoes and other plants at an extremely low concentration.
The ODA has also filed Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to establish this as a permanent Rule. A public hearing has been scheduled for May 21, 2003, 9:00 a.m. at the Oregon Department of Agriculture in Salem. For more information, contact the Pesticide Division at (503) 986-4635.
For more information on clopyralid, visit DEQ's composting web site at www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/composting.html.
MetroPaint introduced six new colors in March. Light and dark blue, light and dark green, and light and dark brown join MetroPaint's existing palette of gray, pink, yellow, beige and barn red. The dark colors including barn red now sell for $25.00 per 5-gallon pail, and the light colors sell for $20.00 per 5-gallon pail. White and cream are in limited supply and sell for $30.00 per 5-gallon pail. The coupon in this month's newsletter excludes white and cream. For more information on MetroPaint, visit www.metro-region.org/paint, or call Metro Recycling Information at (503) 234-3000 for the new brochure.
Annual meeting planned for July includes film screening
Who are the members of Recycling Advocates? They come from a variety of backgrounds and professions. The annual meeting is an opportunity for members to meet each other, network, vote for new board members, and discuss plans for the future.
The meeting will be held on July 22 at 5:30 p.m. RA will announce the location in the next newsletter.
In addition, RA will show the film Blue Vinyl immediately after the meeting at 7:00 p.m. With humor, hope and a piece of vinyl siding firmly in hand, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Judith Helfand and co-director Daniel B. Gold travel from Helfand's hometown to America's vinyl manufacturing capital and beyond in search of answers about the nature of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Her parents' decision to "re-side" their house with this seemingly benign cure-all for many suburban homes turns into a toxic odyssey with twists and turns that most ordinary homeowners would never dare to take.
The result is a humorous but sobering and uniquely personal exploration of the relationship between consumers and industry in the feature-length documentary Blue Vinyl, which won the cinematography award in the documentary competition at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.
RA needs volunteers to help publicize the meeting and film screening, specifically assistance with flyer design, flyer distribution (physical and via e-mail), and press release drafting and distribution. If you can lend a hand with any of these tasks, please contact us at (503) 777-0909 or by e-mail at info@recyclingadvocates.org.
For more information on the annual meeting and the film, visit our web site at www.recyclingadvocates.org/calendar.htm. The film screening is cosponsored with Oregon State Public Interest Research Group and the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group.
Do You Have Earth Share of Oregon at Your Workplace?
Market research has shown that 98% of Oregonians are concerned about the environment, which helps explain why contributions made through Earth Share of Oregon's (ESOR) annual fundraising campaign have been increasing almost every year since 1989. However, only a small percentage of Oregonians have the ability to support conservation organizations like Recycling Advocates through a payroll deduction contribution at their workplace. Wouldn't you like a simple, easy, and convenient way to support ESOR and its 70 member groups through your own workplace giving campaign? If your workplace doesn't have an ESOR campaign, we invite you to look into starting one. It's an easy way to make a difference for the earth and our community, and your co-workers will appreciate the expanded giving options! If your employer currently offers ESOR, spread the word to friends at other workplaces about ESOR and how they too can make a positive impact on our environment.
ESOR campaigns have many benefits both for the employer and the employee. Companies can demonstrate their commitment to the community, as well as their employees, by offering a broader set of charitable choices. To find out more about adding ESOR to your company's giving campaign contact Ron Shoals of ESOR at (503) 223-9015 or rrs@earthshare-oregon.org; or visit www.earthshare-oregon.org. It's a great way to leverage your own commitment to the earth!