Bottle Bill Expansion Effort Fails

Legislation to expand the bottle bill in Massachusetts won’t make it this year to Governor Patrick’s desk.   WAMC”s Paul Tuthill reports.

   A conference committee stripped the bottle bill from the final version of legislation intended to spur economic development.  James McCaffrey, director of the Massachusetts Sierra Club  said it  was the end of efforts  in this two year legislative session  to expand the bottle.

   Expanding the state’s 5  cent bottle deposit to include water, juices, teas and sports drinks would reduce litter and encourage more recycling according to advocates who have pushed for the expansion for more than a decade.

   Opponents of expanding the bottle deposit law argued it would increase costs  for grocers and bottlers that would in turn be passed onto consumers.