Subject: Bottle Bill

Some of the candidates are saying they support curbside recycling instead of
returning containers to the grocer or convenience store.  What are the
arguments against curbside recycling for containers?  Dewayne Johnson of
Iowa Recycling Association sent these arguments against the concept of
"curbside recycling instead of returning containers".

1) Not only is there no curbside recycling in Waterloo [and many other Iowa
communities], there is no curbside recycling when you're picnicking in a
park or driving in your car or tailgating at a football game or biking on a
trail (even in cities where there is curbside recycling).  By removing the
nickel deposit, you remove both the incentive not to litter and the
incentive for someone else to pick up the litter if a nickel isn't enough to
keep the original person from littering.

When there is no incentive in place, the burden to keep the area clean falls
directly on cities, parks departments, conservation boards, counties, and
individual landowners.  In the first 4 instances, organizations with
ever-tightening budgets are going to have to find a way to keep the
landscape as clean as it is today, put up with the litter (incurring the
wrath of visitors), or raise taxes or fees to pay for picking up the litter.
In the last instance (the individual landowner) it's an annoyance and an
eyesore to have to deal with the cans and bottles tossed out by others.

2) If the PET (plastic pop bottles) goes into curbside, the value of the PET
decreases because it gets mixed in with any other plastics in the program.
In Iowa, our bottle deposit plastic is worth twice the value of PET plastic
in other states because of the purity of the commodity. It's just PET -
there are no #2 milk jugs or dish washer detergent bottles to sort out.
What that means for us is jobs: 1,200 Iowa jobs annually due to the Bottle
Bill.

3) Carrying plastic in recycling trucks is expensive.  Even if the bottles
are crushed, they are very light and take up a lot of space.  You mostly end
up trucking devalued plastic (see #2) and air around the city. (I can
explain more if you wish).

4) Putting aluminum into the curbside system - while appealing - will never
reap the intended benefits.  As we are often reminded by the anti-bottle
bill folks, aluminum is the most valuable part of the bottle bill waste
stream.  What will happen: buy-back centers will emerge, aluminum will be
scavenged from the curbside programs (or never get there in the first place)
and the curbside programs will be left with the (less valuable) plastic and
(even less value) glass.  This will drive up recycling costs and
(eventually) fees for consumers.

5) Finally - a change like this (curbside) absolves producers and retailers
from the responsibility they have for the litter created by their product.
One of the great things about the Bottle Bill is the everyone is
responsible - producer, retailer, consumer.

**If you'd like to have your local candidates sign the Bottle Bill Campaign
Pledge, please contact me at [log in to unmask] and I'll send one to you by
e-mail.
Jane Clark
[log in to unmask]

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