‘Bottle Bill’ Passed by Assembly Loses Fizz in Senate Test

An anti-litter bill that easily passed the Assembly last month fared poorly in its first Senate test Wednesday after critics questioned whether a 1-cent refund on beverage containers would be enough to encourage recycling.

“I think that it has lost a little bit of its bloom from a couple of weeks ago, but my guess is the bill is still viable and is going to make it,” Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside), chairman of the Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee, said after his committee had debated the measure.

Known colloquially as the “bottle bill,” the legislation came to the committee heralded as the first compromise measure in 20 years of battles over the issue between environmentalists and the beverage industry. The bill, authored by Assemblyman Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles), departs from the traditional approach of requiring consumers to pay a 5-cent deposit on all beer and soft drink containers.

Instead, the Margolin bill would require distributors to pay 1 cent per container into a recycling fund. That cost would be added to the retail price of such beverages. Consumers would get a penny refund on each container they turn in to a recycling center.

But the bill’s first hearing before the Senate Natural Resources Committee was riddled with criticism of the compromise.

Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara) was among several committee members who contended that the penny refund would not encourage the public to recycle.

Hart said his office has received 300 letters and phone calls opposing the bill from people who are “most committed” to recycling efforts.

“I represent a strong environmental constituency, and what I’m getting from them is that they think it’s a lousy compromise,” he said. “What kid or adult is going to lug this stuff all over town?”

Sen. Dan McCorquodale (D-San Jose) voiced a similar concern: “I can’t believe anyone would drive a mile, a half-mile or two blocks to get a penny.”

Added to the refund issue was another criticism dealing with the convenience of recycling centers.

Currently, there are about 1,000 such centers in California, said Lee Wiegandt, director of Californians for Volunteer Recycling. In order to provide “adequate” consumer convenience, Wiegandt said, the state would need about 5,000 centers.

The committee unanimously approved a dozen technical amendments proposed by Margolin, but postponed a final decision on the entire bill.