Plastic pollution is harming our communities. A new bill in Connecticut would strengthen the bottle bill and increase recycling. Photo: Larina Marina via Shutterstock
Connecticut lawmakers are debating a bill right now that would help keep millions of bottles and cans out of Connecticut’s parks, beaches, and streets every year – at no cost to taxpayers.
House Bill 7294 adds perfectly recyclable juice, sports, and energy drinks, as well as tea containers, to our current bottle bill. The new law also increases the container deposit from five to ten cents, a change that will boost Connecticut’s bottle redemption rate, which is the lowest in the country. And finally, HB 7294 gives a small raise to redemption centers and stores for their work to collect and store empties, which will encourage more redemption businesses to open.
With our recycling system broken and plastic pollution a growing problem worldwide, now is the time for an update to our bottle bill.
But the bill won’t pass if the plastics industry and big beverage brands get their way.
Here’s how you can help:
- Show your support by calling your state representative and senator today. Tell them that Connecticut needs a stronger bottle bill to reduce harmful plastic pollution and clean up our communities (see below for more recommended talking points for your call).
- Get friends, family, and neighbors to call, too! Nobody likes a dirty street, park, or beach.
- Post a litter pic on social media. Post pictures of bottle and can litter, along with the Connecticut town where you found it, using the hashtag #BetterBottleBill. Our team will use the hashtag to get your pictures to local lawmakers to make sure they know we have a litter problem and an important vote coming up to address it.
Recommended Phone Call Talking Points:
- I am calling to express my support for the bottle bill and HB 7294. House leaders should call a vote on the bill and pass it.
- Connecticut’s bottle bill is slowly dying. We have the lowest redemption rate in the country. We need to bring the law into the 21st century by raising the deposit to ten cents. Once Oregon raised its deposit to ten cents, the state’s redemption rate went from 64 percent in 2016 to 90 percent in 2018.
- The current bottle bill doesn’t include all bottles that can be recycled. HB 7294 will add 315 million more cans and bottles to the program. This is exactly the type of action we need to curb our plastic pollution problem. Scientists say if we do nothing, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. Plastic bottles and caps are the number one item littered on beaches, and they then get swept out to sea.
- The current bottle bill supports 1,272 jobs throughout the state and adds about $92 million annually to the local economy. We need to save these green jobs and bring more to Connecticut by upgrading the bottle bill to include all bottles.
- Everybody should have the right to a clean neighborhood and access to effective recycling programs. We know the bottle bill works. It just needs an update to bring it into the 21st century.
