[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 158 (Monday, November 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2303-E2304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ON THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NATIONAL BEVERAGE CONTAINER RECYCLING 
                             INITIATIVE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. THOMAS H. ALLEN

                                of maine

                    in the house of representatives

                        Sunday, November 9, 1997

  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the National 
Beverage Container Recycling Initiative Act. This comprehensive 
beverage container redemption bill is based on the current redemption 
law in my State, Maine.
  There is one simple reason why I believe the Maine bottle bill should 
be the model for Federal legislation: it works. In fact, Maine leads 
the Nation with a 96 percent redemption rate on all types of 
returnables.
  We have over 20 years experience with our Maine bottle bill. But 
then, we have over three centuries of experience with the basic Yankee 
values that underlie the concept of the bottle bill: common sense, 
frugality and a respect for the environment that sustains us.
  After enacting the bottle bill through referendum with 54 percent of 
the vote in 1976, Mainers reaffirmed the law 3 years later when 67 
percent of the voters opposed a repeal initiative. In 1989, to build 
upon the bottle bill's success, the Maine legislature extended deposits 
to all glass, metal and plastic beverage containers under 4 liters, 
except for milk cartons.
  Mainers have grown so accustomed to returning their bottles and cans 
that recycling has become a way of life. In 1993, Maine people recycled 
over 425,000 tons of material, which equals one-third of the municipal 
waste generated statewide, and is 50 percent higher than the national 
average.
  Recycling is a $1.6 billion industry in Maine, employing 8,100 people 
in good jobs paying an average of over $20,000 a year. Beaches and 
roads in Maine are cleaner, our volume of trash collected has been 
reduced, and jobs have been created, all due to the bottle bill.
  My proposal would place a 5-cent deposit on regular beer, wine, and 
soda bottles. The bill would also extend the 5-cent deposit to so-
called new-age beverage containers. These are mostly glass juice 
containers such as Snapple, Very Fine, and Gatorade. These beverages 
constitute over 20 percent of the national beverage market. Maine is 
currently the only State with a deposit and refund on these containers.
  My bill would also place a 15-cent deposit on wine and spirit 
containers. As an incentive to implement the bottle bill, retailers 
would receive a 2-cent per container fee for their participation in the 
program. Unclaimed deposits would go to the States to help fund their 
environmental programs.
  The benefits of a national bottle bill are obvious: cleaner highways, 
beaches and communities. But there is more to a bottle bill than 
improving the appearance of our country. Recycling creates jobs, 
reduces the volume of heavy solid waste at landfills and transfer 
stations, and saves energy. Moreover, a bottle bill engages all people 
in the task of protecting our natural resources.
  I am convinced that a bottle bill modeled on Maine's extraordinarily 
successful program would benefit the entire Nation. Already nine

[[Page E2304]]

other States have some form of bottle bill in effect. The 77 million 
Americans who live in these bottle bill States already recycle more 
than the rest of the 186 million Americans in States without bottle 
bills. In 1995, EPA reported that the 10 bottle bill States recycled 
1.63 million tons of beverage containers, 300,000 more tons than the 
1.33 million tons recycled by the other 40 States combined.
  As I introduced this important bill, I cannot help but offer an 
appropriate paraphrase of a timeless political adage, which I hope this 
legislation will bring to life: ``as Maine recycles, so recycles the 
nation.''

                          ____________________