[GreenYes] Updated bottle bill passes NYS Assembly 91-45

[Jenny Gitlitz <jenny.gitlitz@no.address>]

Despite intense food and beverage industry lobbying, the updated bottle bill
passed the NY State Assembly today by a 2 to 1 margin, after a three and a
half hour debate. Press release follows:
 
American Littoral Society
Container Recycling Institute
Citizens Campaign for the Environment
Environmental Advocates of New York
League of Women Voters of New York State
New York Public Interest Research Group
Sierra Club
  
NEWS RELEASE

 For Immediate Release                                              For More
Information Contact:
May 10, 2006       
Laura Haight, NYPIRG, 436-0876, x258
(cell) 588-5481
                   
ASSEMBLY PASSES BIGGER, BETTER, BOTTLE BILL

BY TWO TO ONE MARGIN

 
Environmental Groups and Elected Officials Applaud Assembly and Call On

State Senate To Pass the Bill This Year
 

Environmental groups and elected officials praised the New York State
Assembly for passing the Bigger, Better, Bottle Bill (A2517D-DiNapoli)
today, and called on the State Senate to take up the measure this session.

After a three and a half hour floor debate, the Assembly passed the Bigger,
Better Bottle Bill by a vote of 91 to 45, with broad-based bipartisan
support.  This is the second year that the Assembly has backed the bill;
last year it passed on June 20th, just days before the session ended.  The
bill, which has six majority Senate cosponsors (S1290D-LaValle) and strong
support among the Senate minority, now goes to the Senate.
 
³The New York State Assembly has always been a leader in environmental
stewardship.  Today¹s vote extends the Assembly¹s long history of protecting
our environment for future generations,² said bill sponsor Assemblyman
Thomas P. DiNapoli (D-Great Neck).
 
³It is extremely important that we continue efforts to protect and preserve
our environment.  Improvements to the bottle bill will not only encourage
proper disposal of bottles, but will steer additional dollars to the
Environmental Protection Fund and further enhance the ability  of  local
governments to improve the quality of life within their communities,² said
bill sponsor Senator Kenneth P. LaValle (R-Selden).
 
³The bottle bill is the single most effective recycling and anti-litter law
that we have.  It is time to improve the law by adding deposits on
non-carbonated beverages and using the unclaimed nickels to bolster the
Environmental Protection Fund.  I applaud the State Assembly for passing
this vitally important legislation and urge the Senate to do the same,² said
New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
- more -
 
- page 2 -
 
The bill has the backing of environmentalists, civic groups, farmers, local
governments, and many small businesses.
 
³We are enormously grateful to Assemblyman DiNapoli for his hard work and
leadership on this issue,² said Laura Haight, senior environmental associate
for NYPIRG.   ³We applaud the Assembly for supporting cleaner communities
and more recycling in New York State, and urge the Senate to take up this
important measure.  Each year that legislators fail to close the ³litter
loophole,² nearly two billion bottles and cans end up in the trash or
polluting our rivers, parks and communities.²
 
³Passage of the Bigger, Better Bottle Bill, one of the environmental
community¹s four ?Super Bills,¹ is a tremendous achievement,² said Rob
Moore, executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York.
³Assemblyman DiNapoli¹s leadership on this legislation should be applauded.
We thank everyone who supported this common-sense bill for recognizing that
New York needs to expand our current bottle law to match the drinking habits
of today¹s consumers.²
 
Theresa Cassiack, Legislative Associate, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, said:
³The Sierra Club thanks Assemblyman DiNapoli for his work to get the plastic
drink bottles and broken bottle glass off our shorelines, playgrounds and
streets. We thank the Assemblymembers who voted to protect our children and
our environment by reducing litter and increasing recycling. Finally, we
call on the Senate leadership to put the interests of our children and the
environment first and stop stalling action on the Bigger, Better, Bottle
Bill." 
 
"It's encouraging to know that our representatives in the Assembly responded
to the grassroots campaign of the people of New York," said Barbara Toborg,
Conservation Coordinator for the Northeast Chapter of the American Littoral
Society. "Common sense carried the day!"
 
³We applaud the New York State Assembly for its overwhelming endorsement of
an updated bottle bill,² said  Jennifer Gitlitz, research director for the
Container Recycling Institute.  ³This popular and effective recycling and
litter prevention program deserves to be voted on by the full Senate.²
 

The ³Bigger, Better Bottle Bill² (A2517D, DiNapoli/S1290D LaValle) would
extend the current 5-cent container deposit law to include non-carbonated
beverages like bottled water and iced tea.  It would also require beverage
companies to return the unclaimed deposits to the state to fund recycling
and other environmental protection programs.
 
The Bottle Bill is New York¹s most effective litter prevention and recycling
program.  As soon as the law went into effect, New Yorkers could see the
difference?fewer bottles and cans along roadsides, less broken glass in
streets and playgrounds, cleaner beaches and parks.   Driven by the nickel
deposit, more than 90 billion bottles and cans have been returned and
recycled in New York since 1982 instead of polluting our communities or
ending up in landfills.  The 70% return rate enjoyed by the bottle bill far
exceeds municipal recycling rates in New York.
 
The Bigger, Better, Bottle Bill enjoys tremendous popular support, with
endorsements from more than 350 local governments, small businesses, and a
broad range of groups from across New York State.  Polls show that most New
Yorkers support this proposal. However, the bill has faced stiff opposition
from well-financed industry groups such as beer wholesalers, soda and
beverage companies, and supermarkets and convenience stores.
 
###



Jennifer Gitlitz
Research Director 
Container Recycling Institute

Jenny¹s Home Office:
2 Pomeroy Ave.
Dalton, MA 01226
Tel. (413) 684-4746
Mobile: (413) 822-0115
Fax: (413) 403-0233
Email: jenny.gitlitz@no.address

Main office, Container Recycling Institute
1776 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Suite 800
Washington, D.C. 20036-1904
Tel.(202) 263-0999
Fax: (202) 263-0949
www.container-recycling.org
www.bottlebill.org




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