MASSACHUSETTS > BROOKLINE CHAPTER > ZERO WASTE
The Zero Waste team of the Brookline chapter of Mothers Out Front showed their support for the updated MA Bottle Bill at the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy hearing on September 13th. Two team members provided live oral testimony, and four members provided written testimony.
The MA bottle bill was signed into law in 1982, and provides a 5 cent deposit (and refund if returned) for a very limited number of bottles. It is sorely in need of updating. The current proposed bill [H.3289 / S.2149]
- Increases deposit from 5 to 10 cents for all deposit containers
- Adds deposit to water, juice, sports drinks, wine, liquor, and other drinks
- Adds miniature containers known as ‘nips’
These measures would likely increase container recycling rates to 80 or even 90 percent for almost all beverage containers, thus taking them out of our incinerators and enabling them to be turned into new bottles…or eventually to be part of a refill system!
Reducing waste and transitioning to a reuse society are invaluable tools to help us advance towards a livable climate. Greenhouse gas and other toxic emissions come from every step of the production and destruction cycle of these containers.
Hopefully the testimonies given will influence the committee to report favorably on the updated Bottle Bill so it can eventually advance to a vote in the House and Senate!
Written by Wendy Stahl, co-leader of the Zero Waste Team of Brookline Mothers Out Front