stop the costly d.c. bottle bill
D.C. families and small businesses are already stretched thin. Now is not the time for another costly, complicated mandate.
what the bill means
a new cost at every checkout.
Under the proposed Bottle Bill, a new 10-cent-per-container fee, a 24-pack of water would cost consumers $2.40 more. A 12-pack of iced tea or beer would cost an extra $1.20. D.C. families are already struggling to afford the cost of living in the District, and small businesses can’t afford higher costs. In order to get their deposit back, residents would need to collect and drag their used and discarded bottles and cans to redemption facilities across the District, putting the largest financial burden on seniors, busy families and those who live in food deserts.
Our local businesses, too, could lose business as customers travel across the border to Maryland and Virginia to purchase beverages at a lower cost and the register – and take their full grocery list with them. Some would even be forced to manage the sorting and storing of used containers at their stores, creating sanitation and pest concerns and adding new costs for businesses who are already struggling to keep their doors open.
the price of the proposal
the real world impact
who does the bottle bill impact?
families
The Bottle Bill would add yet another financial burden to working families, low-income residents and seniors who are struggling to afford increased prices on their groceries at a time when they can least afford it. According to recent studies, the new system would cost $61 million every year despite the existence of a curbside recycling system paid for with our tax dollars.
A D.C. bottle bill will force people to pay an extra deposit fee on beverages at checkout and haul the empties to a redemption site to get their money back. Residents who opt to recycle conveniently by placing their empties in a bin at curbside will essentially be double-taxed. This bill will also require a new trash transfer facility in D.C. to act as a central repository where trucks can daily unload containers for recycling.
small businesses
Small businesses have already been hit hard by inflation, higher supply costs, higher utility bills and less customer traffic. If this bill is passed, small businesses would be forced to absorb significant new upfront costs or be forced to pass these costs on to their customers. That would drive many customers to shop over the border in Virginia and Maryland, costing local D.C. businesses sales. Local business owners who are required to take back used bottles and cans will have to deal with the public health and public safety issues that have plagued deposit systems in other states.
d.c. taxpayers
This proposal comes at a time when the D.C. city government is facing a fiscal cliff that is making it hard to fund critical priorities. Now is not the time to implement a new, untested municipal recycling system just for bottles and cans. No city in the US has a bottle bill; the one city that tried it years ago admitted failure and ended it. The bottle bills in existence today in 10 states were introduced more than 50 years ago. No state in the continental U.S. has passed one since the advent of convenient curbside recycling. It will be expensive: the estimated cost is $58 million to implement such a system and $38 million to operate on an annual basis.
D.C. regulators would also have to police against the problem of bottle deposit fraud that costs businesses and governments millions of dollars a year in other states. Millions of used containers from Virginia and Maryland on which no deposit has been paid could be fraudulently redeemed in D.C. States like Connecticut, New York, Michigan that have had bottle deposit systems in place for half a century still have not solved the issue of fraud.
make your voice heard
tell your councilmember to vote no on the bottle bill
Send a message today. Tell the D.C. Council that families and small businesses cannot afford another costly mandate.