Vermont’s Bottle Bill is our state’s most successful recycling program. Thanks to the Bottle Bill, we recycle 85% of covered beverage containers, while only recycling about 36% of other containers. By updating the Bottle Bill to cover additional beverages like bottled water and juices we can keep an estimated 100 million more bottles and cans out of Vermont’s landfills and roadsides every year.
NEWS RELEASE: Corporate Influence and Coke’s Win over the Public Good
April 19, 2013
Minutes after debate over corporate influence, Coca-Cola wins out over public good in Senate Finance Committee
MONTPELIER, VT—Just minutes after an extended floor debate about the possible influence of corporate contributions, the Senate Finance Committee opted against a publicly-supported proposal to have the state keep an estimated $1-3 million per year in unclaimed Bottle Bill nickels rather than allow the beverage industry to continue to pocket the cash, as it has been doing for decades.…
Overwhelming support for expanded Bottle Bill at public hearing
March 13, 2013
At a public hearing concerning a draft report on Vermont’s Bottle Bill and single-stream recycling programs, dozens of Vermonters – everyone from redemption center owners to environmentalists to community groups – called on the Agency of Natural Resources to expand Vermont’s Bottle Bill. Proponents of expanding this successful recycling program spoke for over an hour, and the lone voice in opposition was a paid lobbyist from the beverage industry.
“The Bottle Bill works to get people to recycle like nothing else we have going,” said Lauren Hierl, VPIRG Environmental Health Advocate.…
Join us at the Bottle Bill Public Hearing
March 11, 2013
With release of a draft Bottle Bill report from the Agency of Natural Resources, now is the time for Vermonters to voice support for an expanded The public hearing is tomorrow, Tuesday, March 12th, and they need to hear from you as they decide whether to recommend repealing, maintaining, or expanding the Bottle Bill.
Click here to join us at the public hearing tomorrow night, Tues (3/12), 5:30-7pm, Pavilion Auditorium, Montpelier. We need to pack the room to show that Vermonters want an expanded Bottle Bill!…
With release of ANR Bottle Bill study imminent, groups call on legislature to expand the popular program
February 28, 2013
An Agency of Natural Resources-commissioned Bottle Bill study is expected out this Friday which, despite the program’s overwhelming popularity and undisputed success, is likely to prompt a renewed debate over the future of the program. Bottle Bill supporters directly impacted by the legislature’s actions – including small businesses and community groups – gathered at the State House on Thursday to make sure their voices are heard.
VPIRG Report: A Clean and Green Vermont
February 28, 2013
Vermont’s Bottle Bill is our state’s most successful recycling program and a model we can build on to help move Vermont toward a zero-waste future. A Clean and Green Vermont: A Special Report on the Environmental and Economical Benefits of Vermont’s Bottle Bill, released by VPIRG and the Container Recycling Institute, examines ways in which the Bottle Bill is uniquely effective at collecting and recycling beverage containers, and how the program could become even better.
UVM Student Group Calls on Legislature to Expand Bottle Bill
February 21, 2013
Below is a letter to the editor submitted by Ryan Barry a member of VSTEP (Vermont Students Toward Environmental Protection), calling for the Legislature to expand the Bottle Bill. VSTEP recently banned bottled water at the University of Vermont and they feel it’s time our elected officials do their part to promote recycling by expanding the State’s most effective recycling program to include all types of beverage containers.
We couldn’t agree more, and would like to personally thank VSTEP for all their hard work!…
VPIRG Launches Bigger Better Bottle Bill Activist Toolkit
December 11, 2012
The Bottle Bill is Vermont’s most successful recycling program, achieving more than double the recycling rate of any other program in the state. Over the past 40 years, the number of containers that have been recycled through the Bottle Bill they would fill the Empire State Building more than 3 times over.
VPIRG will be fighting hard during the upcoming legislative session to expand the Bottle Bill to include all types of beverage containers, not just beer and soda.…
Bottle Drive Helps Families Living Off Recycling
July 18, 2012
Redeeming cans and bottles really adds up — one nickel at a time. That’s why Scott Britt, a VPIRG summer intern and South Burlington native, is happy to get his hands a bit sticky.
Scott is collecting thousands of redeemable beverage containers to help raise money for Safe Passage, a non-profit group based in Guatemala that brings hope, education and opportunity to children and families living in extreme poverty around the Guatemala City garbage dump.…
Senate Votes 22-7 to Kill Expanded Bottle Bill
April 20, 2012
Statement of VPIRG Executive Director Paul Burns on Senate’s 22-7 Vote to Kill Expanded Bottle Bill
Friday, April 20, 2012 — Just as people around Vermont and across the country are marking the 42nd anniversary of Earth Day, Vermont state senators have voted to kill a proposal to expand Vermont’s most successful recycling law — the Bottle Bill.
As a result of the Senate’s 22-7 vote today, nearly one hundred million cans and bottles will end up in landfills or as roadside litter over the course of the next year when they could otherwise have been recycled under an expanded Bottle Bill recycling program.…
Senate Committee gives Thumbs Up to a Bigger, Better Bottle Bill
April 16, 2012
The Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy passed an amendment to expand the Bottle Bill as part of the broader solid waste and mandatory recycling bill (H. 485) on Friday morning. Offered by Senator Joe Benning (R- Caledonia), the amendment adds beverages such as water bottles, juices, and sports drinks to the bottle redemption program.
The amendment passed on a 3-2 vote: voting in favor were Senators Benning, McCormack and MacDonald, opposed were Senators Brock and Lyons.…