Update the Bottle Bill

The Bottle Bill, the nickel deposit on beverage containers, is the State’s most successful recycling and litter prevention program.

Since the Bottle Bill's passage in 1983, over 35 billion containers have been redeemed, contributing to a healthier environment, cleaner and safer communities, and a stronger economy. But to keep up with the times and consumers' tastes, the bottle bill must be updated.

An Updated Bottle Bill would expand our container deposit system to include “new age” drinks such as non-carbonated beverages, water, iced tea, juice, and sports drinks. It would decrease litter and increase recycling.

An estimated 3.3 billion beverages are consumed annually in Massachusetts, of which 1.3 billion are “new-age” (e.g. water, sports drinks, flavored teas), and this number is only expected to increase. As consumers purchase more of these beverages, an increasing number of containers are finding their way to landfills and by the sides of our roads.

Subscribe to the Updated Bottle Bill Email list! Join the effort to help pass the bottle bill update! Click here.

Tell Your Legislators to Support the Bottle Bill Update
Use this quick contact form even if you don't who who your legislators are.
Click here

Join The
Email List!
Learn about upcoming events and urgent action alerts.
Click here to subscribe
This is an "announce only" list, meaning that it will have only official newsletters from us -- and therefore only about one or two messages per month. We will never share your name or e-mail address with anyone.

Reports:

The Impact of the Bottle Bill Update on Jobs in the Economy - An Analysis of Employment in the Recycling Sector, July 2012: click here.

Rebuttal to the Claims: An analysis of the points raised by Rep. John Keenan (D-Salem) in his Op-Ed to the Salem Evening News, June 16, 2012. Click here.

Curbside vs. Bottle Bills: Access to curbside recycling has been rising for years, so why doesn’t it have a stronger effect on the beverage container recycling rate? Click here.

208 Cities and Towns Support the Bottle Bill Update: Our of the state's 351 municipalities, 208 have asked their State Representatives and Senators to Support the Bottle Bill Update. Click here for the list, click here to view a map.

The History of the Massachusetts Bottle Bill: In the late 1970s, groups began to advocate for container deposits. Before then, most beverages were sold in refillable bottles that carried a deposit to encourage people to return them. Click here.

Study Confirms that Containers Make up 15% of Waste Stream: Despite bottlers claims that beverage containers make up a 12/100 of 1%, an analysis of the State's waste data proves that containers are the second most prevalent item in household trash, just behind paper. The figure is 150 times greater than bottlers have been alleging. Click here to read the report.

Study concludes that the Bottle Bill Update will result in job gains. While the recycling's impact on jobs has been the subject of several studies in recent years, Returning to Work is the first report to take into account the vital importance of material quality, throughput quantities, processing dynamics and end-user needs to analyze the net gains in domestic jobs when beverage containers are recovered through recycling. Learn more about the report --- Download PDF [3.23MB]