A bill to add a USD 0.05 deposit to purchases of bottled and canned beverages did not progress beyond a Tennessee House subcommittee on 19 April 2006.
The bill, which was opposed by convenience store…
A bill to add a USD 0.05 deposit to purchases of bottled and canned beverages did not progress beyond a Tennessee House subcommittee on 19 April 2006. The bill, which was opposed by convenience store operators, grocers and beverage distributors, was voted down by Members of the House Local Government Subcommittee. “It“s not lobbyists who are killing this bill. It“s the thousands of individual convenience store owners, grocers and others who are out here trying to make a profit,” William Beach, a convenience store chain operator told committee members. Under the proposal, distributors would pay a USD 0.05 deposit per container to the state, passing the costs on to the retailers and consumers. The deposit would be redeemed on empty containers returned. Milk, dietary supplements and medicines would be excluded. Mr. Beach said the bill would raise the cost of a case of beverages by USD 2 for consumers and collect an additional USD 312 million a year for the state. Bill sponsor, Republican State Representative Russell Johnson, said consumers would get the USD 2 back on redemption of their used bottles and cans. He also said the money the state would collect would be some USD 30 to USD 40 million for unredeemed deposits, not USD 312 million. The first USD 10 million of any unclaimed refund money would be allocated for existing county litter grant programs and any remainder would go into the general revenue fund. A non-refundable USD 0.03 container fee would help fund the program. Mr. Johnson said that in the 11 states using bottle deposits, the rate of deposit redemption was 80%. He said the intent of his bill was to promote recycling, reduce the amount of roadside litter and the amount of waste going into refuse dumps. Bob Reale, vice president of human resources for convenience store operator The Pantry Inc. said in his home state of Massachusetts, the same benefits were promoted, but not realized. Many of the containers returned were not in a condition to be recycled because they were not clean, Mr. Reale said. Subcommittee members voted the bill down without comment.