Queensbury redemption center owner urges Warren County to back statewide bottle bill

Jade Eddie, owner of MT Returnables in Queensbury, told the Warren County Board of Supervisors on May 13 that her redemption center faces closure and asked the board to pass a resolution supporting an updated state bottle bill.

Eddie said New York once had about 700 redemption centers and that the state has lost 168 centers in the last two years. “Our payroll costs have increased by 114%, but the handling fee that we are paid has not increased since 02/2009,” she said, and she told supervisors that the current pay rate makes her business financially unsustainable.

Eddie described local impacts if centers close: customers driving long distances to return containers, community fundraisers losing revenue and more containers going to municipal landfills instead of recycling. She said MT Returnables supports more than 35 local charities and organizations and that one local Boy Scout troop brings the center roughly half a million containers a year that help the troop raise about $20,000 annually.

Eddie asked supervisors to pass a resolution in support of state legislation to increase the handling fee and otherwise strengthen the deposit-return system. Supervisor comments indicated an intent to discuss the request with state legislators; one supervisor suggested staff would follow up with Assemblyman Dan Stec.

Why it matters: County-level statements of support can influence state legislators who control bottle-deposit law changes and highlight local economic and environmental impacts. Eddie said loss of centers would cost local jobs and community fundraising and would shift waste-management costs to taxpayers.

Next steps: No formal county resolution supporting the bottle bill was recorded in the May 13 meeting minutes; Eddie provided informational packets and asked supervisors to contact her with questions.