An Expanded Bottle Law In Mass.? Can That Thought
Does Massachusetts really need an expanded bottle law?
It's a question that's been asked several times before, and the business sector — as it has before — is offering the same answer: No, and a resounding no at that.
Allow us to add our voice to that chorus.
Environmental interests are pushing to add non-carbonated beverages, such as iced tea, fruit juice and other non-alcoholic bottled or canned drinks to the list of containers covered under the nearly 30-year-old law — for beer, carbonated soft drinks and mineral water — that carry a nickel refund per container.
Supporters of the proposal claim it would reduce litter and the amount of waste sent to landfills. Retailers and several lawmakers, meanwhile, have minced no words in describing a broadening of the law as an added tax that will hurt retailers at a time when the economy is in recovery mode.
Massachusetts is one of only 10 states with a bottle law. But only three — California, Hawaii and Maine — go so far as to also cover what's being proposed here.
We buy the proponents' argument that cities and towns need to step up recycling efforts. According to state figures, the eight largest communities in Central Massachusetts increased the amount of residential recycling only 3.5 percent, on average, from 2003 to 2009. (The rate in Shrewsbury, the sixth-largest community, rose a healthy 18 percent, aided by the launch of a "pay as you throw" program in which residents and businesses must pay for special plastic bags in which to place their trash, providing an impetus for recycling.)
When the current bottle law was amended in 1989, bottlers and distributors were required to maintain an unclaimed deposits fund, which would be transferred each month to the state to support government programs. The Patrick administration says an expansion of the law would generate an estimated $20 million in new revenue. But only $6.5 million of that — less than one-third — would be dedicated to recycling and solid waste management programs.
The commonwealth, along with its cities and towns, need to put more strength into spreading the recycling mantra, for sure, but not at the expense of beverage bottlers and distributors, as well as the small businesses that sell the beverages and the redemption centers that would have to spend more money to accommodate the added bottles and cans. Protecting the environment benefits everyone, but attaching a fee will not. In fact, it will hurt businesses that can use a lift.
Pass Another Sales Tax Holiday
It's the start of another summer, and the Legislature is entertaining another bill to authorize a sales tax "holiday" for the second weekend in August. With state revenue officials having projected an increase in sales tax collections for the soon-to-be-finished fiscal year, as well as for fiscal 2013, Massachusetts lawmakers should not hesitate in approving the holiday for what would be the eighth time in the last nine years. The only exception was 2009, after the Bay State experienced a 5.4-percent drop in sales tax collections amid a recession, and just after Beacon Hill hiked the levy from 5 percent to 6.25 percent.
As we continue to emerge from the recession, Central Massachusetts retailers, especially those on the New Hampshire border, deserve the break, brief though it may be. n
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