Water, juice containers may be worth money
Yingmeng YuState representatives hope to eliminate litter and improve the environment with additions to the nearly 25-year-old law that offers deposits for recycling pop cans and bottles.
Because the popularity of drinks such as bottled water, juice and iced tea has risen since the original bill took effect in 1978, Rep. Mike Switalski, D-Roseville, and House Majority Floor Leader Bruce Patterson, R-Canton, are co-sponsoring a new bill to encourage recycling.
“We see a lot more of these types of containers out on the roadway,” said Judy Hartwell, legislative assistant to Switalski. “This is to encourage people to turn in their containers so that they’re not in the roadway.”
According to a press release, 1,363 non-deposit bottles were cleaned up along Michigan shorelines in 1997.
The bill was first introduced about two years ago, but never made it out of the Committee on Commerce, Hartwell said. It was reintroduced Jan. 31.
The bill has already been referred to the committee, but the committee chair will decide when or if, the bill will reach the full house for a vote.
The only opposition has been from grocers.
“Grocers might see this as being more expensive to handle and they might have a problem with cleanliness,” Hartwell said. “Some of the containers are not always cleaned out. They see that increasing with more products coming into the store.”
But these problems may be worked out with cooperation, Hartwell said.
“We just need to sit down and iron out some problems. We need to find out how we can work to solve their problems.”
With bipartisan support for the bill as well as support from many environmental groups, Switalski is positive about the bill’s passage.
“We feel positive because we have bipartisan cooperation,” Hartwell said. “We can work together to move this and we understand the problems of different groups.”
