LANSING - Water, tea and fruit drinks will be the newest items included in Michigan’s 10-cent deposit law if new legislation is approved.
State Rep. Michael Switalski, D-Roseville, sponsored a House bill that would include the new bottles in the 25-year-old policy. The bill gained bipartisan support when state Rep. and House Floor Leader Bruce Patterson, R-Canton, became a co-sponsor.
The original bill passed on a voter-sponsored ballot initiative in 1976. Michigan was the first industrial state to adopt a bottle bill and has the largest deposit in the nation.
Ten states have a deposit law.
“Twenty-five years ago there was no bottled water,” Switalski said. “That has grown into a significant industry and there has been an expansion of juice and iced tea. We want to keep our current bottle law with what is happening in the beverage industry.”
Switalski said the industry may have problems adjusting to any additions.
“There are a lot of different ways to approach the problems,” he said. “In March and April, we are going to fine-tune this and put together a coalition of environmental, industry and legislative people to support this.”
Environmental organizations, like the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, are excited about the potential of the bill.
“The only reason that those items were not in the original bottle bill was because they were not around then,” said Amanda Hathaway, a spokeswoman for the group. “Being the founders of the original bottle bill in Michigan, I can assure you that we would have included water, juice and tea containers if they had existed at that time.”
The conservation clubs said the original bill quickly reduced roadside bottle and can debris by 80 percent. More than $800 million in fruit drinks, water and tea was sold in Michigan in 1998.
Despite the positive impact of recycling on the environment, some grocers have other concerns, including sanitation and costs of implementing the new items.
“It is going to help the economy, but it is wider than just a store issue,” said Chris Walser, a manager for Meijer, 2055 W. Grand River Ave. in Okemos. “They need to look at the sanitation issues. Meijer is very big into the economy and cleaning up.
“If you ever walk into a bottle room, the sanitation is an issue. Meijer takes every step to maintain sanitation. But now you are probably going to double the amount, and that is going to increase it even more.”
