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Barrington council backs statewide bottle deposit bill, citing shoreline litter data
Summary
Save the Bay briefed the council on plastic litter and microplastics and urged support for House bill H-6207 and Senate companion S-996; after public comment and a small amendment naming Barrington explicitly, the council approved a resolution supporting the bottle-deposit legislation, 5-0.
Save the Bay told the Barrington Town Council that beverage containers are the single most common item collected in shoreline cleanups and urged the council to support a 10-cent deposit bottle bill pending at the Rhode Island General Assembly.
"If you place a value on something, it's much less likely to be discarded," said Topher Hamlet of Save the Bay, summarizing the policy rationale for a 10-cent redemption fee rather than the older 5-cent models. Hamlet cited recent cleanup figures and a University of Rhode Island study that found substantial microplastic quantities in Narragansett Bay sediments.
Council discussion noted that a town-level resolution would join other municipalities and complement earlier local plastic-reduction actions. The council opened the item for public comment; speakers including Jennifer Boylan urged the council to back the versions Save the Bay recommended. Council members asked for a minor edit to the resolution to specify "Barrington" rather than a generic "municipality" and clarified which companion bills the resolution covered.
The council then voted to approve the amended resolution in support of House bill H-6207 and Senate bill S-996 by a unanimous 5-0 roll call. The resolution records the council's local support and will be transmitted to Smith Hill as part of advocates' municipal backing for the deposit model.
