Has Connecticut’s “Bottle Bill” Changed From Environmental Law To Cash Cow?
When you buy a container of soda, water, or beer, you pay five cents — and if you return the bottle or can to be recycled, you get that money back. In Connecticut, the program is called “the bottle bill,” and it’s been around since 1980. But now, some are worried the whole system is on the verge of falling apart.
On its face, the bottle bill is simple: pay a five-cent deposit for soda, beer, or water at the cash register. When you pop the container into a recycling machine or bring it to a redemption center, that money is returned.
But the back end is more complex: a system of reimbursements between companies who make and distribute bottles and the people who take them back.
It’s a system that’s netted the state tens of millions of dollars in recent years, but some say it’s failing in its mission to protect the environment.