## MA bottle bill opponents work on recycling alternatives
_By Jake Thomas, Resource Recycling_
While the beverage and grocery industries in Massachusetts have resisted an expansion to the state's bottle bill, they recently unveiled a new initiative to expand recycling in the commonwealth. However, not everyone is pleased with the plan.
A campaign waged by environmental groups and recycling advocates to expand the state's bottle bill to include nearly all containers for non-carbonated beverages [gained momentum][1] then stalled over the last year with beverage, grocery and retail groups contributing to the bill's lack of progress in the Massachusetts legislature. Members of the state's beverage and retail industry remain opposed to expanded deposits that would add to the price of their products.
As an alternative to an expanded container deposit law, these industries have highlighted their own recycling initiatives and expressed a desire to see others launched. Operating under the name Real Recycling for Massachusetts, the state's beverage and grocery industries and their allies have supported measures that would increase the number of public recycling receptacles, establish a statewide litter prevention program and expand curbside recycling services in lieu of a broader bottle bill.
Additionally, the Massachusetts Beverage Association and the Massachusetts Food Association have announced the launch of a two-year initiative called the Massachusetts Recycling Challenge (MRC). The two groups are putting together a nonprofit organization by the same name that will provide technical assistance to communities in Massachusetts looking to set up pay-as-you-throw programs. The initiative will also seek to enhance residential recycling programs and increase the presence of on-the-go receptacles.
By building comprehensive recycling infrastructure, MRC hopes to get away from the "outdated and archaic approach of deposits," says Chris Flynn, president of the Massachusetts Food Association and spokesperson for Real Recycling for Massachusetts.
According to Flynn, the new initiative does not have any concrete goals as far as recovery rates or tonnage collection at this point. The MRC is currently putting together its board and program, says Flynn, and the organization will bring in outside consultants to help get things going. He says that half a million dollars have been put into the organization for its first two years.
When asked if his coalition would be willing to work out some sort of deal with bottle bill boosters to make the container deposits less cumbersome for retailers and beverage companies, similar to [what Oregon has done][2], Flynn says he doesn't see any reason to continue propping up what he sees as a basically flawed collection system.
"We're in a different situation here in Massachusetts. We have 90 percent of our residents who have available to them state-approved curbside and drop-off programs and it would seem to us that it's kind of redundant to create another system, which is why we started this effort to say, hey, we're in a different place than we were 30 years ago [when Massachusetts first enacted its bottle bill]," says Flynn. "We should be looking at building up the comprehensive recycling infrastructure, getting people to recycle all their different waste commodities that are recyclable and not be talking about further inculcating an old system that's very expensive and counter-productive to comprehensive recycling."
"It just makes a lot more sense to make it a single-stream system where folks can put all their recyclables out and have it dealt with in one place," adds Flynn, who also notes that pay-as-you-throw systems have been very successful in the state.
Flynn says his organization will be looking to get input from the state and is interested in working with recycling and environmental groups.
But at least one environmental group isn't so keen on working on this initiative.
Janet Domenitz, the executive director of pro-bottle bill MASSPIRG, writes in an email to _Plastics Recycling Update_ that "anyone who has to call themselves 'Real' anything (i.e. the 'Real Recycling' program) is likely to be carrying out a hoax. And that's what their 'challenge' is -- a complete hoax. The idea that 200 blue bins is a substitute for updating the bottle bill doesn't pass the laugh test."
Domenitz also argues that an expansion has broad support from [municipalities][3], businesses, lawmakers and the public. She writes that it's time to give the expansion a vote in the legislature.
[![SDS Banner][4] ][5]
[![MRP Banner][6] ][7]
**_To return to the Resource Recycling newsletter, click [here][8]_**
**_To return to the Plastics Recycling Update newsletter, click [here][9]_**
[1]: http://resource-recycling.com/node/1940
[2]: http://resource-recycling.com/node/1810
[3]: http://resource-recycling.com/node/1696
[4]: http://www.resource-recycling.com/images/e-newsletterimages/SDSDropTrailers_banner.gif (SDS Banner)
[5]: http://www.sdslogistics.com/quick-quote?src=droptrailersplastics
[6]: http://www.resource-recycling.com/images/e-newsletterimages/MRP_banner.jpg (MRP Banner)
[7]: http://mrpcompany.com/
[8]: http://www.resource-recycling.com/images/e-newsletterimages/RRe-news070212.html
[9]: http://www.resource-recycling.com/images/e-newsletterimages/PRUe-news062812.html
URL: http://resource-recycling.com/node/2874
No comments:
Post a Comment