The House of Representatives recently took action on modernizing Connecticut's bottle deposit program to encourage residents to recycle and keep our beautiful parks, beaches and streets clean.

“The Bottle Bill came into Connecticut with great foresight about four decades ago. There have not been any major changes to it since that time,” said Deputy Majority Leader Rep. Mike Demicco of Farmington. Demicco is the former House Chair of the Environment Committee and said the legislation finally modernizes a system after years of debate on the best way to do it.

Connecticut's original bottle bill was enacted in 1978 and was one of the most progressive anti-litter laws of its time. While the program worked extremely well in its early years, the law has since become outdated and return rates have dropped below 50%.

Specifically, SB 1037, An Act Concerning Solid Waste Management:

• Increases the redemption rate on beverage containers from 5 to 10 cents starting January 2024
• Updates the types of beverage containers captured by the bottle program, such as containers for teas, juices, hard ciders, and hard seltzers
• Allocates $5 million through the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to create a grant program for new redemption centers in urban areas
• Creates a nickel surcharge on nip bottles, which are a major source of litter in towns across the state, at the point of sale. The money will be redistributed to Connecticut towns and cities to use to reduce waste and litter.

This is a common-sense modernization of the bottle deposit program that will go a long way towards cleaning up our communities, reducing waste, and providing people in cities and towns across Connecticut with greater access to redemption facilities.

You can read an Associated Press article on the Bottle Bill here.