A Penny’s Worth of Cleanup

For 20 years, members of the California Legislature voted for the beverage lobby and against a nickel deposit on beer and soft drink containers. Too tough, they said. Now the senate is balking at a bill that adds a penny to the price of a bottle or can. Too weak, say Senate critics.

They are partly right. A penny is not much of an incentive to encourage recycling. Requiring consumers to redeem containers at scattered recycling centers rather than at any store where the items are sold is admittedly second-best to laws in other states. But flawed as it is, Assembly Bill 2020, sponsored by Assemblyman Burt Margolin, (D--North Hollywood), represents the first agreement of any kind between environmentalists, who want a tough bill, and the beverage industry, which wants no bill at all.

If the truce falls apart, the dogged environmentalists plan another statewide initiative and the determined industry lobbyists plan another expensive campaign against it. The money and the energy would be better spent pushing a stronger version of AB 2020 through the Senate as quickly as it sped through the Assembly.

Traditional bottle laws work in 9 states. The nickel deposit encourages consumers to redeem empties. The payoff is less litter. AB 2020 is not the best of bottle bills, but it is better than nothing.