It has worked in urban states like California and rural states like Vermont. But in West Virginia the idea of placing deposits on bottles and other containers so they are returned and recycled hasn't gotten much support in the Legislature.
It has worked in urban states like California and rural states like Vermont. But in West Virginia the idea of placing deposits on bottles and other containers so they are returned and recycled hasn't gotten much support in the Legislature.
This year, if the bill (HB2773) is going to move, it has to start in the House of Delegates. House Judiciary Chairwoman Carrie Webster said it would be up to her committee members.
"If the committee has the interest in running it, I will give the opponents the same consideration," Webster, D-Kanawha, said recently after a joint House-Senate Judiciary committee meeting about the issue.
California businessman John Ferrari spoke at that hearing. He heads NexCycle's California Operations, which provides beverage container redemption services.
Deposits and recycling has worked there for 20 years. Supporters of such legislation point out that none of the 11 states that have gone to container redemption have turned back.
"What it boils down to is it's working in 11 other states and it'll work here," Ferrari said.
Those states include Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and Oregon.
West Virginia's idea is a 10-cent fee on bottles that is redeemable when returned. Linda Frame, a lobbyist for the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, believes once a program is established, businesses like Ferrari's will be close behind.
In California, retailers or supermarkets are responsible for collecting the used containers. But Ferrari said they're happy since firms like his rent space on their parking lots and make the collections for them.
He believes there is potential for 275 jobs doing that in West Virginia.
It has worked in urban states like California and rural states like Vermont. But in West Virginia the idea of placing deposits on bottles and other containers so they are returned and recycled hasn't gotten much support in the Legislature.
This year, if the bill (HB2773) is going to move, it has to start in the House of Delegates. House Judiciary Chairwoman Carrie Webster said it would be up to her committee members.
"If the committee has the interest in running it, I will give the opponents the same consideration," Webster, D-Kanawha, said recently after a joint House-Senate Judiciary committee meeting about the issue.
California businessman John Ferrari spoke at that hearing. He heads NexCycle's California Operations, which provides beverage container redemption services.
Deposits and recycling has worked there for 20 years. Supporters of such legislation point out that none of the 11 states that have gone to container redemption have turned back.
"What it boils down to is it's working in 11 other states and it'll work here," Ferrari said.
Those states include Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and Oregon.
West Virginia's idea is a 10-cent fee on bottles that is redeemable when returned. Linda Frame, a lobbyist for the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, believes once a program is established, businesses like Ferrari's will be close behind.
In California, retailers or supermarkets are responsible for collecting the used containers. But Ferrari said they're happy since firms like his rent space on their parking lots and make the collections for them.
He believes there is potential for 275 jobs doing that in West Virginia.
Grocers at first fought the idea in California, but have since agreed it is a "highly successful" program, he said.
"We're the collection process," he said.
It does away with litter, he said, tons of it. People in states with container deposits find most are returned for the deposit, like decades ago when there were only glass containers - and the few pop bottles left along roadsides were picked up by someone wanting that deposit cash.
Supporters know some containers will never be returned and that money will go into a "process fee" account to help establish businesses similar to Ferrari's and recycling businesses, Frame said.
West Virginia's proposal would cover all airtight beverage containers made of glass, aluminum or plastic that are less than one gallon, except dairy products.
The main sponsor of the House bill is Delegate Barbara Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, with others including Mary Poling, D-Barbour; Bobby Hatfield, D-Kanawha; Ron Fragle, D-Harrison; Bill Hamilton, R-Upshur; Bonnie Brown, D-Kanawha; Bob Tabb, D-Jefferson; Tim Miley, D-Harrison; Tim Manchin, D-Marion; Bob Beach, D-Monongalia, and Ray Canterbury, R-Greenbrier.
Fleischauer, Hamilton, Brown, Tabb and Miley are all House Judiciary Committee members.
In the Senate, state Sens. Brooks McCabe and Dan Foster, both D-Kanawha, and Randy White, D-Webster, are sponsors of the bill (SB135).
In California, seven of every 10 containers sold are now returned, and the return rate continues to grow. In the first half of last year, Californians recycled more than 6.9 billion beverage containers, an increase of nearly 800 million from the year before.
To contact staff writer Tom Searls, use e-mail or call 348-5198.
