Lawsuit Filed Against N.Y. Bottle Bill
On May 18th, a formal lawsuit was filed challenging the constitutionality of the expanded New York “Bottle Bill,” scheduled to take effect next month. The lawsuit was filed by the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), Nestle Waters North America (NWNA) and Polar Beverages in an effort to reform the labeling requirement associated with the legislation.
Environmental advocate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., owner of bottled water company Keeper Springs, has also signed an affidavit in support of the lawsuit.
Opponents of the Bottle Bill expansion have concerns over labeling requirements, compliance deadlines and exemptions to certain bottled drink manufacturers. Photo: IBWA
The Returnable Container Act (RCA), referred to as the Bottle Bill, was originally passed in 1982 to encourage recycling and reduce litter and waste associated with bottles. It requires a five cent deposit when purchasing certain bottled beverages, a deposit that consumers could be refunded by returning empty bottles to retailers.
The expansion of the existing bottle deposit law would require bottled water companies to affix a UPC bar code to bottles sold in New York, which the filing parties argue impedes interstate commerce as the bottles would be permitted from sale in other states.
Plaintiffs also argue that the new Bottle Bill exempts bottled water products to which sugar has been added, such as sport drinks, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
In a statement released on Tuesday, IBWA expressed its concern for the amount of time given to comply with new regulations. The new Bottle Bill, set to take effect June 1, provides less than 60 days for bottled water companies to comply with the new labeling requirements. The original law, according to IBWA, provided soft drink and beer industries 15 months to comply.
“We would prefer that the legislature fix these problems, but the deadline is fast approaching and we need to ensure that we will still be able to provide bottled water to our customers,” said Nestle Waters CEO Kim Jeffrey. “All over the country, there are good examples of bottle bills that work for consumers and for the environment. We don’t need to settle for one that discourages both healthy choices and environmental stewardship.”
Laura Haight
posted on May 21st, 2009 at 3:49 am
It is deeply disappointing to learn that Bobby Kennedy Jr. is opposing a law that hundreds of environmental groups worked for years to get passed in New York.
David
posted on May 21st, 2009 at 6:55 am
I’m not sure what there saying here, whether they want all the bottles including flavor water, teas, juices, and sports drinks to have a deposit on them. or if they just don’t want to comply with the new law.
Settlement Loans
posted on May 22nd, 2009 at 9:28 am
Enviromentalist always work years to get certain bills pass; as a prime example did you know that 32% of all recycled items end up in the trash dump anyways? This is because their is no one to buy the recycled material. There needs to be a fine line between what is good for the enviroment and good for the economy.
Eric
posted on May 27th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Manufacturers need to get the point that consumers are not dumping grounds for their waste products. They should be required to either use recycled material or take back their packaging and used products. It so, they’ll use their own brain power to come up with a better way to produce and package their products so that the waste is significantly reduced.
Chuck or Don't Chuck
posted on May 27th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Hi Laura and David,
I’ve been following this for a while. Bobby Kennedy (and Nestle Waters for that matter) aren’t opposed to the bottle bill at all. What they’re saying is that NY needs a bottle bill that makes sense. Why are sports drinks and non-carb sugar water being excluded when they come in the same PET plastic bottle?
More importantly, as the bill is currently written, the money that is raised by the unclaimed deposits is going off into the netherworld of state budgets. Both BK and NW are saying that those funds should directly benefit environmental efforts in NY state – more recycling – which makes perfect sense. If the goal of the bill is really to protect the environment (vs. just raise money for pork projects and staff salaries), then the backend of the bill should walk the talk.
With both of those considerations, I’m sure they would be aboard. The lawsuit seems like just a device for them to make that point public.
I, for one, am encouraged by Nestle/Poland Spring’s fairly radical stance on support of smart bottle bills, as opposed to what you see from the other beverage companies out there.
Bottles
posted on May 28th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Dear Chuck,
I am finding it hard to swallow that Mr. Kennedy is in support of Bottle Bills after reading his comments over the past week. He accuses a Bottle Bill of taking funds from curbside when actually the two programs work best in conjunction with each other. The curbside program that takes my recycling strongly supports the Bottle Bill.
The reason some containers are excluded from BBBB is because there are too many beverage companies that take actions, such as this lawsuit, making it difficult to pass this type of legislation; this forces lawmakers to take these type of excluding actions. If the bottlers were more agreeable & willing to recycle, we could include all containers without such opposition, as it should be.
The environmental efforts of NYS ARE supposed to be benefitted by the BBBB & it’s unclaimed deposits being turned over to the State, something that isn’t currently happening.
The unfortunate reality is that BK has personal financial interests at stake that take priority over his attempt at an “environmental advocate” image, I for one am disappointed by his actions.
Brian
posted on May 29th, 2009 at 5:04 am
This strikes me as yet another gigantic failure of the NYS Legislature. The bill was handed to them by lobbyists, and they drank it up and passed it on. NYer’s like myself have been waiting for years for a comprehensive bottle bill, and the Leg. dropped the ball yet again…pathetic.
Frank
posted on September 17th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Can someone tell why there isn’t a deposit on ALL bottles, like Snapple, last time I checked a plastic bottle is a plastic bottle. And what about all the product that gets shipped from NJ with no deposit ? Stealing from the state and taking good jobs from local beverage workers, good job again NYS!!
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