Advocates, municipal leaders and retailers renew push to modernize Massachusetts bottle bill

A broad coalition of municipal officials, environmental advocates and some retailers urged the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy to modernize Massachusetts's bottle deposit law by expanding covered containers, raising the deposit and restoring an environmental fund to help cities and towns.

Supporters told the committee that the current 5-cent deposit has not been updated since the law was enacted in 1982 and that redemption rates have fallen in recent years, increasing litter and municipal disposal costs. "I have two words," said Janet Dominitz, director of MassPIRG; "deposits work." She and other witnesses cited studies and local counts showing a large rise in beverage containers not covered under the current statute.

Supporters said the bills before the committee (including House and Senate filings referred to during testimony such as H.3464 and other companion measures) would extend deposits to containers not now included in the 1982 law (for example, water, sports drinks and small alcohol "nips"), raise the deposit to 10 cents, increase handling fees for retailers and authorize programs such as convenient bag-drop accounts and…