Bigger Better Bottle Bill

Earlier this year, a landmark environmental bill passed in the New York state senate with a vote of 32 to 20, and was signed into law by Governor Patterson. The Bigger Better Bottle Bill added a 5 cent refund to those consumers who choose to return their non-carbonated plastic water bottles for processing at recycling centers, adding bottled water to the list of consumer beverages which could be returned in this way. The cash reward offered an incentive for individual recycling which undoubtedly helped to prevent plastic water bottles from piling up in landfills and littering New York City's streets and beaches. The bill also included a provision which required distributors to return 80% of unclaimed deposits to the state, a measure which would generate $115 million in revenue for New York, a state which is currently facing a deficit of $2.1 Billion.

The decision reached by lawmakers in April was almost immediately blocked by those in the bottled beverage industry. In June, the state was sued by several groups, including Nestle Waters North America and the International Bottled Water Association. In addition to opposing new labeling requirements, the plaintiffs argued that the compliance deadlines for new implementations were too constricted, and that exemptions for sugar-water beverages such as Gatorade and other sports drinks were unconstitutional.

The complete passage of the bill was stalled until April of 2010 at the earliest, and environmental groups who had spent years advocating for its passage were deeply disappointed. But good news came quickly, as Monday a decision from Federal District Court Judge Deborah Batts called for the immediate enactment of the expanded law, following an appeal from the state. Her ruling has ended two months of legal disputes over the issue, and has again allowed for the recycling of single-serve plastic water bottles for a cash incentive.

But how much good will this new law really do for New York's recycling efforts? Although now 80% of the unclaimed deposits will be rerouted into the state budget, many environmentalists, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are opposed to the idea that the funds from recycled products would not be given directly to statewide environmental movements, instead being directed into an obscure account within the New York State budget. They argue that the bill will do more to hamper recycling efforts within New York than to encourage them. This remains to be seen.

And does this expanded law redeem the bottled water industry? Hardly. In fact, according to Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, 90% of the environmental impact of bottled water is inflicted before it reaches the consumer. If you take into account the oil used in manufacturing the plastic bottles, and in shipping and refrigerating the final product, recycling the bottle seems to be a meager counteraction. The NRDC released a report which stated that the 43 million gallons of bottled water received by New York City annually from the European Union results in approximately 3800 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. That is the equivalent of 660 cars running continuously all year long. And that is only from the E.U. New York recieves bottled water from many countries around the world.

I would like to congratulate the New York State Senate, Governor Patterson, and more recently Judge Deborah Batts, for passing the expanded bottled bill. It is a commendable stride in the direction of sustainability. However, we still need to find an alternative to single-serve packaged water. We MUST continue to TAPIT!