Sunshine State Bottle Bill Brochure - Sierra Club Florida

Bottle Bill & Curbside
Recycling Work Together
• 30-50% of drinks are consumed away
from home in various places like bars,
restaurants, stadiums, shopping malls
and on the go.
• Curbside recycling is not available to
those living in apartments and other
type of multi family dwellings; about
1/3 of the population.
• With existing recycling programs
Florida recycles only 16% of its
beverage containers. To achieve high
recycling rates the state needs both
convenient curbside recycling and a
Sunshine State Bottle Bill.
1 - UF Bureau of Economic and Business Research
2 - McLaughlin and Associaties statewide public
opinion survey 2011
3 - Container Recycling Institute
4 - Bottlebill.org
Photo What Lies Under by Ferdi Rizkiyanto
SIERRA CLUB FLORIDA
111 2nd Avenue NE
St Petersburg, FL 33701
W: www.floridasierraclub.org
• Start a petition
What You Can Do
• Seek a resolution of support for the
Sunshine State Bottle Bill from your
local governments, businesses or
organizations (environmental, garden
clubs, rotary clubs etc...)
• Write an editorial for your local
newspaper
• Write, call or email your state
legislator
• Meet with your local candidates and
lobby for the Sunshine State Bottle
Bill
• Hold an event to raise awareness and
bring attention to our cause
• Volunteer: contact
linda.demler@sierraclub.org for more
information.
• Visit http://florida.sierraclub.org/
bottlebill.asp for more information
and resources.
Sunshine State
Bottle Bill
Bottle Bills (also known as
Beverage Container Deposit
Laws or BCDL) have been in
existence in the United States for
40 years. There are currently 10
states that collect a small (5 or 10
cent) deposit on beverage
containers. The deposit is
refunded to the consumer upon
return of the container for
recycling. All 10 states that have
implemented a program have
been very successful in reducing
litter and increasing recycling
rates. In fact, these 10 states
recycle more beverage containers
than the other 40 states
combined! 4

A container deposit law requires a
minimum refundable deposit on
beer, soft drink and other beverage
containers in order to ensure a
high rate of recycling or reuse.
When a retailer buys beverages
from a distributor, a deposit is paid
to the distributor for each can or
bottle purchased. The consumer
pays the deposit to the retailer
when buying the beverage. When
the consumer returns the empty
beverage container to a
redemption center, or to a reverse
vending machine, the deposit is
refunded. The retailer recoups the
deposit from the distributor. The
costs to distributors and bottlers
can be offset by the sale of scrap
cans and bottles and by short-term
investments made on the deposits
that are collected from retailers. 4
WHY A BOTTLE BILL?
I T W O R K S !
Florida recycles only 19% of aluminum
cans and 12% of plastic bottles out of an
average 36 MILLION used each DAY.
Thirty-million cans and bottles end up in
landfills, beaches, roadsides and streets. 1 In
contrast, Bottle Bill states have an average
recycling rate of 75-80%. Michigan has an
amazing 97% beverage container recycling
rate! 3 Getting to 75% translates to 27
MILLION cans/bottles not wasted every
DAY in Florida.
K E E P S F L O R I D A
BEAUTIFUL
Reduces burden on taxpayers and local
governments for the cost of cleaning up
improperly discarded containers.
C R E A T E J O B S
Creates privately owned and operated
redemption centers. Increases supply
of glass and aluminum for the
recyclables market A portion of the
unclaimed deposits (estimated at $34
million per year) could be used for
administration costs and towards other
environmental programs.
T H E P E O P L E O F
FLORIDA SUPPORT
A 2011 poll 2 found 63% of Floridians
favor creating a recycling refund
program. 77% have a positive opinion
of these programs in other states. An
overwhelming majority (82%) approve
of Florida’s goal to achieve a 75%
recycling rate by 2020. 83% believe
that a refund system would help
achieve that goal.
C O N S E R V E S E N E R G Y
A N D N A T U R A L
RESOURCES
The US EPA estimates recycling one glass
container saves enough energy to light a
100 watt bulb for 4 hours.