This is in response to an article in the Des Moines Register today. PRESS RELEASE --- January 14, 2005 Cities, Recyclers Refute Claims of Grocers The Iowa Recycling Association and several members responded today with facts to refute recent claims by grocery store chains that Iowa's Container Deposit Law (the Bottle Bill) adversely affects recycling in Iowa. "Nothing could be further from the truth," said Michaela Rich, President of the Iowa Recycling Association. "The Bottle Bill complements the hundreds of curbside programs and drop-off programs in Iowa. Iowans have more recycling today because of the bottle bill - not less." Waste News, a leading trade journal of the recycling and solid waste industry ranks Iowa 4th highest in the US in total recycling efficiency. "Iowa already has a comprehensive system of collection that works - curbside some places, drop-off in others, and bottles and cans at grocery stores, redemption centers and convenience stores everywhere," said Mary Wittry, Carroll County Solid Waste Commission. "Mandatory curbside programs aren't necessarily the answer. Investing money in infrastructure to create facilities and programs is one thing, maintaining these facilities is something that taxpayers would have to support indefinitely." Karmin Bradbury, Executive Director of the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency concurred, "Bottle bill opponents believe aluminum will save the day. Curbside programs won't get enough aluminum to offset the added cost of having to manage the plastic and glass. Bottom line - if the bottle bill goes away it's going to add more burden to household curbside programs and increase the disposal of deposit containers in landfills." Bales of plastic pop bottles have an average recycling market value of twice that of plastics collected through curbside programs. Additionally, curbside bales are more valuable in Iowa because they don't have plastic pop bottles. Curbside material in non-deposit states is worth less because everything is mixed together. "Iowans like the Bottle Bill because they know our Bottle Bill works," said Dewayne Johnson, IRA Executive Director. "Not only does it provide thousands of jobs, it keeps Iowa clean. If we take away the bottle bill, those containers have virtually no value individually. They're going to end up as litter. Without the deposit, we're going to have to pay people to go pick them up and that's going to cost taxpayers even more money." The 10 states with deposit laws recycle 490 beverage containers per person per year. The 40 non-deposit states, which rely solely on curbside programs and drop-off centers, recycle 191 beverage containers per person per year. -30- Contacts: Michaela Rich, IRA President, 319-273-3689 Mary Wittry, Carroll County Solid Waste Agency, 712-792-5001 Karmin Bradbury, Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency, 319-398-1278 Dewayne Johnson, IRA Executive Director, 515-265-1596 or 515-240-7722 (cell) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp