NWRA Testifies Against Expansion of Vermont Bottle Bill
Arlington, VA – Lew Dubuque, vice president of chapter management for the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), testified in opposition to H. 158, legislation in Vermont that would expand the state’s bottle bill. Expanding the bottle bill would be disruptive to the recycling markets and increase curbside recycling costs for consumers and municipalities.
“An expanded bottle bill will harm recycling due to the fact that the containers targeted for expansion are currently being managed effectively in local recycling programs,” stated Dubuque. “It also would threaten curbside services and private recycling facilities, forcing them to cut jobs or shut down due to loss of revenue.”
NWRA released a study that evaluates the impact of bottle bills on materials recovery facility (MRF) costs and revenues and those impacts on municipalities. The study found that although deposits do lead to substantially greater recovery overall, they also lead to higher costs and lower revenues at MRFs as high-value materials move to the deposit system and out of MRFs. The research estimates that municipalities will see an increase of approximately $2.50 to $5 per household per year in MRF costs, depending on the deposit scenario.
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ABOUT NWRA
The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) represents the private sector waste and recycling services industry. Association members conduct business in all 50 states and include companies that manage waste, recycling and medical waste, equipment manufacturers and distributors and a variety of other service providers. For more information about NWRA, please visit www.wasterecycling.org.
Contact
Brandon Wright
National Waste & Recycling Association
bwright@wasterecycling.org
202-364-3706
