[OKRA] Idea for OKRA: Oklahoma lawmaker plans bottle-deposit program

Thu Oct 1 18:38:29 PDT 2009

Sophia,

If you haven't yet, please take a look at the CRI website that Bryce
Hulsey gave in the email below. You'll see statistics showing states
that have a bottle bill have higher voluntary recycling rates. It lends
to a self-motivating mindset (culture) toward recycling. 

I just moved from Michigan this year to the Tulsa OK area. Michigan has
a 97.2% beverage container redemption rate. At the same time, most
communities have recycling separate from their weekly trash pick-up.
Where I lived, we had a household trash dumpster, a yard waste dumpster
and a recyclable material container. Most everyone used their recycle
material container. The trash pick-up company had a separate
(specialized) truck that came by and picked up the recyclables separate
from everything else.

I challenge you to find general recycling rates in the State of
Oklahoma. I scoured the internet and could not find anything on this. I
called OK-DEQ (Bryce) and asked if they had that statistic. The closest
he could tell me was somewhere between 6 and 12%. This is nothing to be
proud of. It can only get better!

Jim Bologna
Site-Energy Manager
Saint-Gobain Containers
Sapulpa, OK
(918)227-5537 Office

(918)691-2192 Cell

Another great resource for beverage container deposit laws and info is
the CRI website, 

http://www.container-recycling.org/

Thanks,

The Bryster!

From: okrecycles-bounces at recycleok.org
[mailto:okrecycles-bounces at recycleok.org] On Behalf Of Brian Figgins
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 9:18 PM
To: okrecycles at recycleok.org
Subject: Re: [OKRA] Idea for OKRA: Oklahoma lawmaker plans
bottle-deposit program

I received quite a few responses to my e-mail.  I wanted to address most
of those in one reply.

It sounds like OKRA will be taking some steps to support this
initiative.  Ilda says that the bill's sponsor has been invited to the
Dec 8 recycling seminar in Stillwater.  Before I heard that, I was not
sure I was going to attend.  Now I definitely will as it will give me a
chance to learn more about the proposed bill and offer suggestions.

I spent most of last summer in California.  Their deposit law is a great
compliment to their various recycling programs.  Plastics gathered in my
community are not worth anything.  The City of Mustang pays to OEMA haul
the plastics and OEMA gives them away to either Greenstar or Waste
Management.  When the economy soured, those companies charged
communities to accept plastics.

In California, many people do not bother to redeem their cans or
bottles.  They will drop those items into their community recycling
programs which in turn get to redeem them.  These deposits work as a
price support for the recycling centers.  What is worthless for
communities now would be worth 5 cents an item under such a bill.

For an experiment, I took a weeks worth of bottles to a grocery store to
see how the process works.   Most grocery stores have a collection once
a week.  There is a trailer in the parking lot where they weigh your
bottles and cans.  The staff gives you a receipt which you take into the
store to redeem for cash.  Residents tell me that most people just use
it like a coupon for their next purchase.

I did hear a story on NPR while I was out their that one sign of the bad
economy is that you saw more people going down residential streets
picking out bottles and cans from the curbside recycling bins to redeem
themselves.

Another possible alliance for OKRA in passing a deposit law would be
child health advocates.  A deposit law would for many effectively be a
tax on sugary drinks (as well as disposable water bottles)

Grocers concerns are that it would dampen sales of soft drinks and water
bottles as well as add a requirement that they accept these products
back.  This is way I think we should consider giving the grocers a
portion of the unredeemed deposits as an offset.

Sophiabkv at aol.com wrote: 

I would like to know how this affects curbside recycling programs in
communities?

Barbara VanHanken

Tulsa Master Recyclers
sophiabkv at aol.com
2212 E. 38th St.
Tulsa, OK 74105
918 749-9093

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

In a message dated 9/29/2009 10:02:50 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
BFiggins at cox.net writes:

	Oklahoma lawmaker plans bottle-deposit program 

http://www.newsok.com/oklahoma-lawmaker-plans-bottle-deposit-program/art
icle/3403610?custom_click=headlines_widget

	I think this would be a good thing for OKRA to get behind and
support.  I know that many in the recycling community understand the
value of a deposit bill.  Although the main purpose of this bill is to
reduce litter, it does a good job of supporting recycling industries.

	A deposit bill is not a tax on anyone... except perhaps a tax on
the lazy.  People who purchase a can or bottle pay an extra $.05 fee
which they get back when they return the item.  Many states that have a
deposit law reap millions of dollars on unredeemed deposit fees.

	If the OKRA board believes that this is an issue they want to
get behind, I would be willing to work with you on trying to get this
through.  I would suggest we contact the following groups /
organizations to build a coalitions:

	Keep Oklahoma Beautiful - This is primarily an anti-litter law
after all
	Boys Scouts / Girl Scout - The Mustang Boy Scouts organization
recently asked me to speak to them about who should pay for recycling.
These groups have helped pass deposit laws in other states.  Collecting
bottles and cans is a great fund raiser for many organizations
	Oklahoma Grocers Association - They are currently against this.
If we could find a way to win them over, we would make a strong ally out
of an opponent.  One thought is to split the unredeemed deposits between
the state and the grocers.

	Thank you,

	Brian Figgins
	Coordinator - Mustang Recycles 

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