We need to work together to fix New York’s broken recycling system without making living in the state more expensive.

THE PROBLEM:

Lawmakers are proposing a bottle bill (S.5684/A.6543) that would increase costs of everyday beverages and further burden working families, local businesses and their employees. It would double down on a broken bottle deposit system without making meaningful reforms. However, there’s a better way forward.

THE SOLUTION:

A bill from Senator Chris Ryan and Assemblymember Amanda Septimo (S.7722A/A.8391) will modernize the state’s existing bottle deposit system without placing additional financial burdens on consumers and small businesses who are already struggling.

New York’s bottle deposit system is broken. It’s outdated, financially unstable, and recycling rates are stagnant.

It is one of the nation’s least efficient systems.

A band-aid approach is not the answer. Fraud is costing the state tens of millions of dollars a year. Redemption centers are in financial trouble. The cost of living for consumers keeps going up.
Under the proposed bottle bill, a 24-pack of soda would cost consumers an extra $2.40 for the deposit. That sharp increase would hit working families who are already struggling with high grocery prices. Local stores and bodegas that sell beverages would presumably lose sales, risking the jobs and job hours of employees and independent truckers.

There’s a better way! The reforms in the Ryan/Septimo bill are a win for everybody.

Reforms will:

Hold down the cost of beverages for working families across New York.

Protect good-paying union jobs and provide support to small businesses in communities across the state.

Help local redemption centers lessen their burden from the complicated process of separating the containers and recouping their losses, which have resulted from the current antiquated system.

Give New Yorkers the confidence of knowing that the recycling system is working and that the money from deposits isn’t being misused and is instead going back into the state to improve our environment.

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“New York beverage distributors have developed compromise legislation which will: provide immediate relief to redemption centers; modernize the deposit system and reduce fraud; prepare the system to handle an expansion of beverages under the law; all while not jeopardizing any beverage industry and Teamster jobs. We welcome this proposal.”

– Teamsters 812