Maine can be proud of the fact that it has one of the highest bottle recycling rates in the country.
But even so, a portion of its bottles are not returned for refund. Under current law, if Mainers do not return their bottles to reclaim their deposits, the unclaimed deposits, estimated at $10 to $16 million yearly, are returned to the manufacturers.
State Representative Stacy Brenner believes she has a better plan for that money. She is proposing that a larger portion of unclaimed bottle deposit refunds should be kept here in Maine to help protect our farmland and clean up our lakes and rivers.
Under Brenner’s proposed legislation, LD2141, Maine would lay claim to $4 million of the unclaimed bottle deposit refunds and split it equally — $2 million for the Working Farmland Access Protection Program (WFAPP) and $2 million for the Lake Water Quality
Restoration Fund (Lake Water) to be used for farmland protection and lake restoration, which would fund these two important initiatives without raising new taxes. Approximately 8 to 10 other states are already using their unclaimed funds and it works.
Maine’s lakes and rivers are a critical and valuable part of our state’s resources. According to Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the water quality in Maine’s lakes and rivers is under attack from chemical runoffs and warming temperature. The resulting algae blooms are choking lakes and stressing the health of native fish, birds and other animals that rely on these ecosystems. Losses in federal dollars for environmental programs also negatively impacts our ability to protect our water quality.
Maine farmland, another important resource, is under pressure and is diminishing at a dramatic pace. According to the Farmland Progection Program, more than 82,000 acres of agricultural land has fallen out of production or is struggling to combat forever chemical pollution.
Sen. Brenner said, “Healthy farmland soils and lake ecosystems are public goods we simply cannot afford to lose. If we don’t invest in their protection now, we will lose them.” She added, “As I see it, unclaimed bottle deposits are a natural and indeed necessary place to turn. They belong to Mainers and yet they continue to flow to corporate pockets. Deposit refunds would come home to the Mainers who paid them — if not directly, then by protecting the natural resources on which all our communities’ health, economic vitality and cultural heritage hinge.”
LD2141 is moving through the legislative process and will be voted on by the full Senate and House. Opponents include representatives of the beverage industry.
Sen. Brenner is serving her third term in the Maine Senate, representing Gorham and most of Scarborough. She sits on the Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
National Bottle Resource Guide
Source: https://bottlebill.org
In California and Hawaii, 100 percent of unclaimed deposit monies are used by state agencies to manage the system, educate the public, and promote markets for recycled material.
Oregon’s bottle bill system operates the state Recycling Cooperative (OBRC), which retains 100 percent of unredeemed deposits to fund bottle collection. The OBRC reports that they also receive $9 million per year in funding from the beverage distributors and grocery retailers.
In 2008, New York received 80 percent of unclaimed deposits. In 2013, New York passed a law that requires $23 million in unclaimed deposits to go to state environmental protection.
Deposit laws in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Michigan and Vermont require distributors and bottlers to turn over all or a portion of unclaimed deposits to the state. The percentage varies from state to state.