New Yorkers to Pay an Extra 5 Cents for Bottled Water
Starting Oct. 31, the New York State Government will charge a 5-cent deposit fee for all bottled water purchased in the state.
In an effort to combat its looming $3 billion deficit, the state passed its Refundable Container Act (Bottle Bill) earlier this year. The law was dubbed a “Bigger, Better Bottle Bill.”
The bottle bill means consumers will pay an extra charge when purchasing beverage containers. This charge is then totally or partially refunded when the container is recycled at a certified redemption center. Photo: Flickr/Muffet
While the law was due to take effect in June, the beverage industry filed a lawsuit, calling the bill “unconstitutional” because it excluded beverages with sugar added. This move put the law on hold until April 2010 in order to give time for manufacturers to make the necessary adjustments.
But in August, a federal judge ruled that key components of the bill could take place prior to next year. Under the new law, distributors must return 80 percent of unclaimed deposits to the state and must increase fees paid to redemption centers from 2 cents to 3.5 cents.
The new law is expected to raise $115 million in revenue for the state. What will it cost consumers? According to the Food Industry Alliance of New York State, the expansion will increase the cost of a 24-pack of water by $2.
Nationally, Americans buy an estimated 28 billion plastic water bottles every year. An estimated eight out of every 10 bottles will end up in a landfill. Other states, such as California, Connecticut, Oregon and Delaware, have adopted bottle bills to increase recycling while supplying extra cash for state budgets.
As of June 17th 2011 we have upgraded our comment system to use Facebook comments. The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.
Canada Guy
posted on October 29th, 2009 at 8:30 am
We all know water bottles are wasteful and bad for the environment, yet their production is growing rapidly everywhere. Just 20 years ago the market for plastic water bottles was practically nonexistent, but today we produce billions of these completely unnecessary products. There can be only one sane response, plastic water bottles must be banned!
http://www.selfdestructivebastards.com/2009/10/water-bottle-manifesto.html
H.K.
posted on November 1st, 2009 at 6:47 am
Get a small, inexpensive water distiller. Minerals come from vegetables. Any lost in distillation aren’t significant anyway.
Debbie
posted on November 2nd, 2009 at 9:29 pm
A step in the right direction…I believe all disposable beverage containers should have a deposit fee. I stopped buying bottled water, even though it was convenient to grab out of the frig on my way out the door. We have good, safe water here and now use reusable mugs, covered cups, etc.
Lee
posted on November 3rd, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Your water distiller just used up as much energy distilling one liter of water as it takes to produce a 1 liter plastic bottle. Sure you saved a bottle, but a reverse osmosis system is much more energy efficient.