Can Michigan improve its 10-cent bottle deposit law? - mlive.com
Michigan’s 45-year-old bottle deposit law boasts a track record of high participation rates and a recycling incentive that, by and large, has worked.
But even the law’s most ardent supporters agree that tweaks to the system could be beneficial for consumers, retailers, beverage distributors and other affected industries alike.
Related: Take back your cans: Michigan’s famous 10-cent bottle deposit subject of new MLive documentary
MLive’s latest documentary, ‘Michigan’s Bottle Bill: Sorting Through a Sticky Situation’ explores all the moving parts to Michigan’s bottle deposit system, what it’s getting right and how some think it needs to be improved.
In a Tuesday virtual panel, several industry experts joined MLive reporter Lauren Gibbons to dive deeper into the policy and answer viewers’ questions about the current law:
- Conan Smith, President & CEO, Michigan Environmental Council
- Shayna Schupan Barry, Director of Governmental Affairs & Strategic Partnerships at Schupan & Sons, Inc.
- Spencer Nevins, President, Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association
A representative from the Michigan Retailers Association was invited, but they were unable to attend.
If the YouTube video does not appear above, click this link to the documentary now.
Michigan’s 10-cent deposit is tied with Oregon for the highest in the country. In 2019, before the disruption that COVID-19 posed, Michiganders brought back about 89% of returnable containers. Though Michigan’s rate of return has been in a slight decline, it’s still higher than any of the other nine states that have deposit laws.
Supporters of Michigan’s bottle deposit policy point to the high recycling rates as a success, especially compared to consumer recycling rates of other products and would like to see it expanded. But retailers by and large consider the process unsanitary and expensive as is, arguing an expansion would make it even more difficult.
Many updates to the law have been suggested over the years, including adding other beverage containers in the mix of what consumers can take back, allowing universal redemption, beefing up penalties for anyone taking advantage of the bottle deposit law by crossing the state border and creating redemption centers to ease the burden on stores currently tasked with handling returns.
One factor that significantly complicates any major changes to Michigan’s current bottle deposit law? Because it was approved by voters via ballot initiative, any changes to the policy would need a 3/4 majority in both chambers of the Legislature to take effect. That means any updates would need bipartisan buy-in.
And industry insiders intimately involved in turning Michigan residents’ empty cans into a usable recycled product say any major changes to the current system would need to come with substantial investments.
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source: https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2021/11/can-michigan-improve-its-10-cent-bottle-deposit-law.html
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