Why the Oregon Bottle Deposit is Set to Double
Friday, March 20, 2015
Oregonians redeemed 70 percent of beverage containers in 2012 and 2013, according to data from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. Under a 2011 Oregon law, if the state bottle redemption rate is below 80 percent two years in a row before 2016, the deposit and refund will double from five cents to 10 cents a bottle.
A fairly new project by the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) created centers specifically for bottle returns, and has shown signs of improving Oregon’s recycling rate. However, changes from the project may not take place in time to offset the deposit increase.
“We’ve slowed down a declining rate, but we can’t say what it would’ve been if we hadn’t been there,” said Cherilyn Bertges, publicrelations and outreach manager for the OBRC.
Over the years, fewer Oregonians have been returning their bottles. When the bottle bill went into effect in 1971, the project started out strong with consumers returning 90 percent of containers. However, the rate has been declining since then, and was at one of the lowest levels in 2012.
Cash Incentives
The five-cent deposit has lost its appeal to consumers, and is not enough to entice most people to return bottles.
“A nickel isn’t what it used to be,” said Betty Patton, president of Recycling Advocates. “Raising it at least to a dime will help incentivize it. Although I would easily go for a quarter, but not everybody wants to hear that."
Cash incentives seem to be one of the best ways to increase bottle returns, Bertges agreed.
The increase could have other effects. Doubling current return rewards could spur fundraising activities with bottle drives, Patton said.
“For homeless adults who collect cans, it would make a huge difference to them,” said Jean DeMaster, excutive director of Human Solutions.
Although Patton said it is hard to predict what the outcomes will be, she said if more people are returning cans, it may be harder to find unwanted cans.
Redemption Centers
Research by the OBRC found a major factor of low return rates was the experience of redeeming cans.
“If you’ve ever returned cans you know it doesn’t smell great, machines don’t work, and people have complaints about the population that tends to be there,” Bertges said.
However, the new centers strive to provide a more welcoming and convenient atmosphere to return bottles in.
“It allows people to return bottles in a clean environment, constantly stocked, and not with broken machines, but the latest technology,” Patton said.
Although the center has been operating for awhile, the statistics speak for themselves of their popularity, according to Bertges.
“Every center is bringing in more volume than machnies that went offline around the center. Our newest center is taking in twice as much,” Bertges said.
2013 saw an increase in cans returned to centers and a slight increase in total returns, while returns at stores fell.
Although the centers may not yet be completely turning around bottle return rates, Bertges explained their importance if there is an increase in the deposit. Bigger returns will create a much larger volume of recyclables to process, especially as the bottle bill expands to include more containers.
No matter what happens with the deposit, Bertges says there will be a promising place for redemption centers.
“We plan to increase the redemption centers around the state and we expect the number of returns to grow over time,” Bertges said.
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