NATIONAL BOTTLE BILL INTRODUCED ON AMERICA RECYCLES DAY

I was pleased to read that the National Beverage Container Producer Responsibility Act of 2003 (or National Bottle Bill) was introduced on America Recycles Day, November 15th.  Hawaii’s own Senator Daniel Akaka, one of the original cosponsors, joined Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont in introducing this legislation.

Should this legislation become law, we will see a huge decrease in wasted beverage containers.  In the US, less than half of the aluminum cans are recycled.   This represents more than 750,000 tons of re-useable aluminum annually or enough aluminum to build 33,000 Boeing Jets!

“Manufacturer’s Responsibility Laws” are being used in other countries to reduce waste and recover resources.  They force the producers to create a recycling plan for their products and/or packaging before releasing it for sale to consumers.

This is the kind of legislation we need more of in this country.  In the meantime, we can continue to take advantage of Maui County’s recycling drop boxes for aluminum, plastic and glass and the ‘cash for aluminum cans’ programs at Aloha Recycling, Maui Scrap Metal and Reynold’s Aluminum.

You can read more about recycling and bottle bills at: http://bottlebill.org/

Camille Armantrout

Makawao