NEW YORK—From the cool refrigerator in the back of the grocery store, to a tip of a person’s lips, to the claustrophobic recycling machines, bottled beverages endure a long journey from consumption toward recycled decimation. The lives of these usually plastic containers are now serving a greater purpose for the environment.
Because of the newly amended New York Returnable Container Act, or Bottle Bill, prices of bottled water and carbonated beverages have increased 10 cents and five cents across the state, including retailers on the Ithaca College campus. This change could lead to more than $100 million in extra revenue from unclaimed deposits, according to the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG).
“Four cents of that five cent increase goes to the [New York] state general fund,” Laura Haight, a senior environmental associate with the research group said. As of Oct. 31, all containers of water under a gallon in size now have a five-cent refundable deposit. Retail prices on Ithaca College’s campus have been changed from $2.19 to $2.29, respectively as of Nov. 30.
According to the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), more than 3.2 billion water bottles are sold each year in New York, which until the updated amendment did not have a deposit price. Haight said less than 17 percent of those 3.2 billion bottles are actually being recycled.
“When the bill was first introduced in 1982, 70 percent of roadside litter was reduced,” Haight said. “With this new amendment [to the bill], we are hoping for a similar effect.”
Haight said the number one item in litter clean up is water bottles and that if the rate of recycling for these bottles increases to 77 percent—the current rate for recycled beer and soda bottles—significant environmental benefits are a guarantee.
“Without a doubt, this is one of the most important environmental bills that has been passed in New York in recent years,” Haight said. “Does it solve all of our environmental problems? No, but it does target some really recyclable materials.”
Public reaction to the price increase has been mixed. Some community members said they fear whether the extra revenue will actually go to environmental programs.
“How do we really know where that extra money is going?” said Michelle Otis, a senior outdoor adventure leadership major at Ithaca College. “Unless [the bottle companies or the state government] plan to make the exchange of the extra revenue transparent to the public, I don’t see how we as consumers could ever know where that money is really going.”
Spencer Harper, a managing supervisor at Campus Center dining hall at the college said he doesn’t blame anyone, especially students for a lack of recycling habits.
“It’s important and I know I try to recycle everything I can,” he said. “But at the same time for a student it’s difficult, especially if they don’t have a car. There should be more recycling services offered on campus and in the community.”
There are three main recycling centers in Ithaca and many grocery stores as well as convenience stores offer recycling services, such as Wegmans and GreenStar. Wegmans of Ithaca offers a beverage container return service and multiple bottle return machines in the front area of their store.
“Since the introduction of the Bottle Bill, we have seen an increase in the amount of people recycling,” said Wegmans service team leader, Alex Adeleqitz. “There was such an increase in the last several months that we had to buy a few new recycling machines with more capacity.”
Ithaca College dining services is contracted through Sodexo, one of the largest food service companies in the world. Jeff Scott, general manager for Ithaca Dining Services said when Sodexo’s packaging and shipment prices went up, the cost to dining services went up as well.
“No one likes to see the cost of anything go up, but I don’t think anyone was surprised,” Scott said. “It’s never a good position for us, as a retailer, when fees are imposed. However, the number of bottles in landfills and so forth is a growing problem. On a personal level, I think [the price increase] is okay if it will help the environment.”
Carol McLaren, who has been a cashier in the campus center food court at the college for almost 21 years said only a few faculty members have commented on the price increases, but none of the students have said anything to her.
“Because students have meal plans and bonus bucks, they usually don’t even know what they’re spending,” she said. “Faculty members, on the other hand, usually pay with cash or only have a few meals a week, so they notice that five cent or ten cent increase.”
Even with the skepticism from some students, the Container Recycling Institute said the projected benefits from the bill reform and price increases will be worthwhile. According to the institute’s analysis, energy saved by recycling the additional containers is enough to power 43,660 households for an entire year and recycling the additional containers will also avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the annual emissions of 28,075 cars.
Haight said that getting people to commit to regular environmental practices, like recycling, can sometimes be challenging, but she said with the updated bill and its greater economic impact, environmental practices will be easier to implement.
“There was a lot of grassroots organizing for this bill and a lot of support at the community level,” she said. “Of the many environmental issues I have worked on, this certainly has been one of the most approachable and accessible. This issue is something we can see and we all benefit from cleaner, healthier communities.”
