Updating the Bottle Bill
With only 23% of non-deposit containers recycled versus 80% of deposit containers, the Bottle Bill is the most effective recycling program in Massachusetts.
Stop Litter, Increase Recycling
For over a decade, MASSPIRG and a large and diverse coalition have been calling for an update of the Bottle Bill. After the more than $9 million spent by bottlers and the waste industry defeated this proposal on the November 2014 ballot, we still believe it sets the standard for effective recycling programs and are organizing support for a new bill (H.2875/S.1752), sponsored by Representative Gloria Fox (Boston) and Senator Cynthia Creem (Newton), that aims to increase the recylcing rates of all beverage containers to the high level of deposit containers.
WHAT THE BILL DOES
- Provides for a six-year waiting period to see if the alternative recycling methods proposed by the bottling industry have succeeded. As of 2013, 80% of containers with a deposit were recycled, but only 23% of containers without a deposit (like water bottles and sports drinks) were recycled.
- If, after six years, that 23%, as tracked by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) doesn’t get within five percentage points of 80%, container deposits will be enacted for water bottles and sports drinks.
WHY THE BILL IS IMPORTANT
If we passed a bottle bill update, it would:
- Save cities and towns $7 million a year in litter pick-up and trash disposal, resulting in cleaner streets and parks.
- Save energy and oil from being wasted. It takes 50 million barrels of oil to produce PET water bottles for the US alone.
- Create jobs! A 2012 report by MASSPIRG and the Sierra Club estimated that 1,500 jobs would be created by updating the bottle bill.
BOTTLE BILL FACTS
- In Massachusetts, beverage containers compose 15.2% of solid waste by volume.
- Container deposit laws have been shown to decrease beverage container litter by over 80% and decrease total litter by over 40%.
Issue Updates
The number of statewide plastic bag bans in the U.S. tripled in June, with Maine, Vermont, Connecticut and Oregon adding themselves to the list.
We've been telling everybody who will listen that the companies that make electronics and other products should make it easier to repair your stuff. In July, we got to tell the Federal Trade Commission...
BOSTON -- While New Englanders’ thriftiness is alive and well, a new report released today by the MASSPIRG Education Fund, “What are Bay Staters Trying to Fix?” chronicles some big obstacles in their way. The report analyzes data from the popular repair website iFixit.com and looks at what items people in Massachusetts are trying to fix, and why that can be harder than it should be.
Here in Massachusetts, we want to fix our stuff.
Something breaks, or doesn’t work right. You could throw it away, but you don’t want to be wasteful so you try to figure out how to get it fixed.
According to a review of data from iFixit, a self-described “repair guide for everything, written by everyone,” 1.6 million unique users from Massachusetts went onto their website www.ifixit.com to look up how to repair something in 2018. That’s about 23 percent, nearly 1 in 4 Massachusetts residents.
Looking more closely into that data from iFixit, the top ten device types that Bay Staters attempted to fix were cell phones, laptops, automobiles, desktop computers, gaming consoles, tablets, clothing, watches, wireless speakers and iPods. Cell phone repair guides were by far the most popular, receiving 26 percent of all the page views.
If a plastic product is rarely reused, and virtually never recycled, then reduce is the only way to go.
Solid Waste | MASSPIRG
Legislative committee severely weakens plastic bag ban
MASSPIRG and our allies are working to restore a strong bag ban bill and support communities that have already banned plastic grocery bags.
Solid Waste | U.S. PIRG
We want the right to repair our stuff
Companies make it hard to repair our phones and other electronics so more of us trash our old stuff and buy new stuff. The Federal Trade Commission can make it easier.
Solid Waste | U.S. PIRG
Let's move beyond plastic
Nothing we use for a few minutes should threaten our health and pollute our future for hundreds of years. One of the best ways to reduce the amount of trash headed to landfills is to ban items such as plastic foam cups and takeout containers.
Solid Waste | U.S. PIRG
Let's move beyond plastic
Nothing we use for a few minutes should threaten our health and pollute our future for hundreds of years. One of the best ways to reduce the amount of trash headed to landfills is to ban items such as plastic foam cups and takeout containers.
Latest Reports
Tools & Resources
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Need Help with A Consumer Problem?
Call our Consumer Action Center for help: 781-335-0280 -
A New Direction In Driving Trends
Our Changing Relationship with Driving and the Implications for America’s FutureMASSPIRG Education Fund -
Southbridge Landfill Petition
Petition to MassDEP and MEPA Jan 2016 -
Southbridge Landfill Petition
Petition to MassDEP and MEPA Jan 2016
